Question:
After having been rather successfully self employed consistently since 1975,
I now find myself deep in the throes of a serious mid-life crisis.
IOW, I actually want to work for someone else, so I can spend my nights &
weekends with my wife & kids before I suffer my first stress related stroke,
heart attack, nervous breakdown or all of the above.
Problem is- I've never worked for anyone but me. I never wrote a resume, or
ever went to a single job interview in my life.
I've certainly had a very full and unusual life. I need a resume NOW, but if
I write it, I'm afraid it will come out longer than 'War & Peace'. What to
leave out? For example, I worked as a volunteer consultant to the Red Cross
at Ground Zero immediately following the WTC disaster. My wife and friends
told me to leave that out of my resume, because it would be viewed as
"fluff, or filler". I never would have guessed that!
I'm thinking of hiring a professional resume writer to make this come
together for me. I also need a career consultant, so I know where to send
my resume. I probably don't know half the companies that may be looking for
my particular skill set.
How do you submit a resume? Cold call? Fax? Email? A headhunter?
Any referrals on great resume writers? Career consultants?
Your advice will be greatly appreciated!!!
Answer:
-It really depends on what kind of job you think you're looking for.
There are plenty of good resume-writing sites out there that will tell
you about the different styles for different types of jobs you're
looking for. I've never started from scratch as you're doing now,
though.
At this point it wouldn't hurt to contact the local Texas Workforce
Commission and attend one or several of their resume writing classes
and job search workshops. Some of the people there are really
helpful, others just plain suck. They seem to turn over their staff
pretty often.
- Don't write a *single* resume, write at least two or three.
- Craft each one to focus on a particular skill *set*, with each
resume being tuned to the job type you are interested in.
- Limit each resume to a single page.
- Be brief, clear and concise.
- Avoid wordiness. The more whitespace around important
points, the easier they are to note and get attention.
- If you have an extensive background / history / expertise,
cover only four or five recent, relevant highlights.
- Search the web for tips and examples of building a good resume.
