Keep It Simple Stupid!

When you're job hunting, your main objective before landing a gig is getting an interview. The golden ticket to landing an interview is constructing a great resume. However, it's not that easy. In my line of work, I have the opportunity to screen resumes and of course, some pique interest and some raise eyebrows. There are plenty of resumes that fall under the Raise Eyebrows category: resumes with typos, resumes with little to no information, and resumes that give too much information. For the resumes with TMI, it's really an eyesore to people who screen resumes. The last thing you want a potential employer to do while they're reading your resumes is develop M.E.G.O. (My Eyes Glaze Over). You only have a couple of seconds to make a great first impression on paper, make it count for something. 


To create a resume that accentuates your high points while getting to the point, here is some info that you might not want to include: 


1. (Overly) Personal Information 
In no way, shape, or form should you ever put too much personal info on your resume. Your social security number, birthday, etc. should never be put on your resume. That would be like volunteering to be the victim of identity theft. Also, for older candidates, volunteering things like your birthday could work against you despite the laws against age discrimination. 


2. Hobbies 
Unless you're filling out an application on Match.com or any other dating site, putting your personal hobbies on a resume is absolutely useless. Employers just want to find out about your qualifications, not that you like dancing, swimming, and cooking international dishes on the weekends. Save that kind of info for when you get the gig and you're making water cooler chat with your co-workers. 


3. Irrelevant Achievements 
If you've amassed a number of achievements over the years, that's definitely something to put down. However, listing your achievement of being Prom Queen is not applicable under any circumstances. Your best bet is to list achievements in your field of interest. If you're in the writing field and have many pieces that you would like to show--blogs, reviews, and other writing samples--please do not send a massive amount of links on your resume. Employers will not be impressed; instead they'll be annoyed that they have a bunch of links to look at. Take your best samples, print them out, and put them in a nice portfolio. When you snag an interview, then you can show off your work in an impressive yet professional way.


4. Laundry List of Responsibilities 
In your work experiences, you usually have a lot of responsibilities. Some responsibilities are mundane and run-of-the-mill; I would suggest keeping duties like copying/faxing, mailing, etc. down to a minimum and focus more on "big picture" duties. Your responsibilities should somehow show that you've either increased your company's revenue, decreased the company's costs, or streamlined a process. You have to show that you've made something easier for your bosses. 


5. Every Single Job 
If you were on a date, would you start the conversation with every detail of your past relationship and expect to go on a second date? Didn't think so. Your job history shouldn't date back to your after school job in high school. An easy way to determine the proper jobs to put on your resume is to make a subtitle called 'Relevant Experience' and provide details on jobs that are relevant to the position. For other jobs that are irrelevant to the position your applying for, create a subtitle called 'Other Experience' and simply provide basic information such as company name, company location (city, state), your title, and dates of employment. 


Giving too much information on your resume is like giving it up too fast on a date. You'll be viewed as a desperate person and you won't get a second chance to make a good impression. Times are rough and I know that everyone is trying to put their best foot forward, but don't throw everything but the kitchen sink into your resume. Keep it simple and to the point. It'll make it easier for employers and easier for you to get that interview! 

Valentine's Day Special: 'Like' Before 'Love' Other Valentine's Day Lessons

My good friend Veralyn was thinking about "Love" and wanted to know how do you recognize the real thing and, once you do, how do you make it last so she made a v-log about it! Shameless plug: I gave some input to her questions as you'll see in the first few minutes. Enjoy! Have a Happy Valentine's Day! 


'Like' Before 'Before' Other Valentine's Day Lessons

The Hoopla Around Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day. It's been known as a day where you can express your love (or like) for someone. You can express it in a card, a box of chocolates, or flowers.Unfortunately, it turns out to be the one day out of the year where women (and some men) lose their patience, mind, and dignity all in the name of receiving a nice dinner, a monstrosity of flower arrangements, and colossal sized teddy bears to prove that there actually is someone who cares about them. 

Valentine's Day is fun, but so many people put too much importance on it making it stressful ultimately. Many girls, including myself, have been swept up in the hoopla that is Valentine's Day monitoring their relationship statuses as if they were on life support. For single girls that actually care about V-Day, it is a painful reminder that they don't have a boyfriend to cuddle up to. For girls that have a boyfriend and place major importance on the pseudo-holiday, they're usually trying to pull off an extravaganza to report back to friends and co-workers. 


I can look back and honestly laugh at how silly I was being about the whole thing, but one thing I learned is that Valentine's Day, or any other day for that matter, shouldn't make you reflect on what you don't have. If you're single, don't worry about not having a boyfriend; you still have friends and family, right? If you love them, you can surely show them during this time. You can also show yourself love, too. After all, you can't love someone else until you love yourself first. 
For the girls that are cuffing this V-Day, enjoy it, but don't pump the day up on steroids. Enjoy a nice meal inside or out at a restaurant, catch a movie, write a card, make a card, but whatever you do, remember to be safe this Valentine's Day. 

New York Restaurant Week 2011

Looking to for a great night out in NYC without spending too much money? Take advantage of New York's Restaurant Week. For those of you not familiar with Restaurant Week, it's where participating restaurants all over the city offer pre-fixed menus for lunch and dinner. Lunch at any of these participating restaurants are $24.07 while dinner is $35.00. Whether you want to taste different cuisines or go to a restaurant you've dying to try, Restaurant Week is sure have something worth sinking your teeth into! Click on the link for more info and a list of participating restaurants. Restaurant Week has been extended to February 27. 


New York Restaurant Week 2011

Jobs: Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!

During one of my recent conversations with a friend, she mentioned how she was having a hard time finding jobs. Although the job market is still in not as strong as it should be, there are jobs out there. It's just a matter of being crafty with with your search. Below are some helpful websites that I've come across in my job search. 


Monster.com 
This widely popular job search engine is used by  many big name companies use Monster as a recruitment tool and the career services (i.e. resume critique/writing, job hunting advice) Monster offers makes them hit with job hunters everywhere. 


MediaBistro.com/TalentZoo.com 
For anyone looking for careers along the lines of media, advertising/marketing/PR, and creative, MediaBistro and TalentZoo are great places to find jobs of various types (project basis, freelance, part-time, full-time). MediaBistro and TalentZoo also give news, events info, and helpful articles on how to make it in the media world. 

Glassdoor.com 

In addition to posting jobs from many companies, Glassdoor provides company information, CEO approval ratings, anonymous reviews from past and current employees, and even reviews on interviews. I highly recommend using this site when you want to find out some info about the company's culture or how interviews are conducted. 


Craigslist.org
The one-stop shop for careers of all functions, Craigslist can be a useful tool in one's job search and many reputable organization are using them to post jobs. However, please exercise precaution as there are job scams that plague the site. To combat that, Craigslist has implemented a space for companies to identify themselves to job searchers. 


LinkedIn.com 
This career-oriented social networking site provides people with a community to not only look for jobs but network with past, present, and future employers. You can list your work history, follow companies that you're interested in, and connect to a wide range of professionals in your field. 


SimplyHired.com/Indeed.com
These job search engines help take the tediousness out of searching for jobs from big name companies and bring the information right to you. In addition to that, these sites also provide salary searches, job trends, and forums to discuss careers. 


Twitter.com 
Although Twitter is used for recreational purposes, many companies have Twitter accounts and tweet open positions. If you have a Twitter account, be sure to follow companies that grab your interest! 


These are just several of the many sites that are helpful to people searching for jobs. I'm pretty sure there are more websites out there so if you found them to be great in your job search comment! 

Relationships...Tweet-by-Tweet

If there's one thing everyone can be sure of is that in relationships, there will be an argument or disagreement of some sort; it's a normal part of the relationship. But what is not normal is how those same arguments and the reactions/emotions from them are displayed on a social media billboard for all followers and internet passersby to see. While browsing through my timeline on Twitter, I can't tell you the number of times I've seen someone's emotionally charged tweets and kept reading their timeline like it was a script for a soap opera. But while I'm reading these tweets I can't help but think about two things: 1) Why would anybody want to tweet about how their relationship is hitting a rough patch? and 2) Who actually has the time to tweet in the middle of fighting with their honey or crying about the events that just took place? 


I've been told that I'm not an emotional person, but I like to think of it as being choosy about with whom I share my emotions. Me and my honey have had our problems like every other couple, but one thing we've always been clear about is to deal with them together. Other than that, the fight won't be broadcasted on Twitter for our followers to either be concerned, indifferent, or in worse cases amused which brings me to this point: allowing people a front row seat to see your relationship's dirty laundry does more harm than good and it gives people ammunition to assassinate your relationship. It's pretty counterproductive. 


In addition to people's voyeurism, I think the reason why many tweet their relationship problems is because of their narcissism. Deep down inside they love the attention that they get from their dramatics; it's like an insecure girl putting herself down because she's really fishing for compliments from a guy. If these attention hungry people didn't get an audience I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have much to tweet about. 


Everyone's relationships go through changes, some more than others, but to give everyone a play-by-play of them, it's not a good choice to make. If you are serious about your relationship, then protect it, don't exploit it. Otherwise, you'll be tweeting your relationship death certificate. As for those of you whose timelines are subjected to floods of these kinds of tweets, mute them!

I'm Not Perfect...But I'm Perfect for You.

As a kid, I remember watching this Grace Jones video called "I'm Not Perfect." One thing I remember about that song was the catchy chorus that went, "I'm not perfect/ but I'm perfect for you." When I got older, I would sometimes hear people use that phrase when talking about love. Now that I am in a relationship and have been in it for a long while, I can fully understand the meaning behind that phrase. 

When searching for a significant other, many people talk about  finding the perfect person. Some people will go as far as making up lists or letting little things become relationship deal breakers, but here's the thing: PERFECT PEOPLE DO NOT EXIST. I repeat PERFECT PEOPLE DO NOT EXIST. Instead, your best bet is to find someone that's perfect for you...and yes, there's a difference. 


To find someone that's perfect for you simply means, in my opinion, finding key qualities in a mate that would complement yours while understanding and accepting his/her imperfections. In my own relationship, we both understand that while we have many similar qualities that helped us fall in love with each other, we're not perfect in any sense of the word. However, we respect those differences and don't drive each other crazy trying to change each other. That level of respect and understanding shows maturity and growth in the relationship and honestly, our differences are what make the relationship unique and interesting. Now if you happen to have differences that you absolutely can't deal with, then end the relationship. Nobody ever had a great relationship by settling. 


So when you're out there searching for that special someone, make sure they're perfect for you. If you're looking for a perfect person, you'll be looking for a long time.