don't put your eggs all in one basket

:-) = happy

:O) = clown

vizualize.me = new resume

We can all thank Eugene Woo for translating us from boring text versions of ourselves into fascinating infographics of ourselves. Yes friends, soon (it's in beta) there will be a web app that generates an infographic of your resume based on your LinkedIn profile. Vizualize.me is the key to a new colorful career.

Check out what Vizualize.me whips Woo's wesume to wook wike ;-P

Wouldn't use this as the primary source of career collateral but it's a fun supplement especially if your chosen field uses visual flair. It's free and within a couple clicks you could see your working history in a whole new way!

the whole nine yards

And the resume info keeps on rollin'...

It’s always possible that you, dear user, are an audio learner. If this is the case, then perhaps the podcast is your key method of learning. There are many available online. Anyone can listen in on this Columbia U. podcast but only affiliated students can get the teleseminar materials that are referenced. If you don't attend Columbia, do not fret.  Contact your alma matter to make sure they offer similar support. In the following YouTube video/podcast, you can see how the author uses PowerPoint to walk through the basic components of the resume: 

Before I jump off the career assistance topic of your beloved college or university, I do want to provide you with an excellent info packet that I know has helped me move forward on a few of my resume strategies. Again, I implore you to shake down your universities career resource office to help you in any way they can. For my fellow Columbia students, the Career Education dept offers many resources for our search.

For some of us, this is all too much work and we would rather be logging Facebook hours, watching as many Instant Netflicks as possible [did you know they have a career selection?], or playing Wii until the wee hours of the morning. Sound familiar? If so, there are an amazing number of paid ways to go. Careerbeam offers a service at ten bucks a month with the option to upgrade to some super sweet online product offereings like a seminar series. Another pay for resource is Peterson's Resume Edge. These guys work with the likes of the Wall Street Journal and Yahoo Hot Jobs.

If you’ve got the green backs and are looking for a resource that’s not online, then consider different software packages. About a thousand years ago, I got the Resume Maker suite that helped me put my first out-of-college resume together. Granted, the software doesn’t give you that much-needed-experience-just-out-of-school, but it did help me craft what to say about where I wanted to go. Although I am talking about having been a recent college grad when I was working with this resume resource - don’t dis it as a vet of the working world. It works for all experience levels.

This next resume resource does sneak into the social networking area, but it’s just too cool to step over or wait for. This web resource, from Peterson's RE, helps you publish an online resume. Looking to share just a link instead of passing the paper version? In ten minutes, your resume can have a URL of its very own. Here’s my jake version: www.webresume.com/BKLYN_Nikki.html

Now THIS, my friends, is an interesting place to sit online. At the Visual CV web site, users are not only able to establish themselves online, BUT may also add many different multi-media elements to round out the resume to provide more of an electronic portfolio. What better way to impress prospective employers than with actual work or accomplishments?! Check out what this guy did.
This is definitely a great place for folks who need to showcase their projects or talents. Don't just leave this for the artistic types. Upload examples of campaigns you've worked with, proposals you've developed, or any variety of bigger then text examples of your accomplishments.

Lastly, if you are looking to work the system to make money, then this recent paid search ad might interest you:

Do you have any other unique resume approaches that have been successful for you? Blog me back, baby!

everything from soup to nuts

As I sat watching the Oscars last night I wondered what some of the beautiful people’s resumes read like. What are the words that describe these folks in the dazzling tuxes and sparkling gowns? I know I can check out the always illuminating IMDB but have you ever seen an actors resume? They have to list ANYTHING that could get them a gig. I’m sure speaking foreign languages, juggling cats, crying on the spot [always wished I could do that] all pop up on the old thespian resume.

But take a look around you. Everyone is becoming a superstar online. The Internet gives us access to managing our own personal brand image. We may not be dating Leo, we may not wear Galliano but because of the web we now have the opportunity to represent online like never before. This idea plays out more around social networking which we’ll get to soon enough but where has it always been present? On paper, folks - your good old-fashioned resume.

In the last six+ years of living in the city, I have gotten the advice from several professionals about always having the resume waiting in updated form. Here in the city, there is an Always Be Looking attitude amongst young executives. Despite that advice, I really only updated my resume when a job change was just around the corner.

For me, that was managing who I looked like on paper every couple of years. Now because of sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIN, folks are managing what they look like on a daily basis. But let me pull back on the social networking rains for a sec. What we are talking about today is a person’s resume. That special piece of paper that can sum you up in seconds and tells the world of your accomplishments. Yes that, dear friends, is what were going to dive into now.

It’s safe to say there is a truckload of info about resumes out there on the net. Some are harmless like a mom and pop web site but others might strip you of everything, including your digital dignity. [didn’t think you had that, did you?] 

This week, I will to point you in the direction of a few different online resources. As usual, I hope you leave a comment if you happen to know of or use a service that is stellar and can help everyone else.

Just wanna be honest with you folks. There’s a few things that I do well, but can’t say that I am a pro resume writer. What I can do to assist you in this area is track down good ideas. I will not personally be telling you – This Is How You Do It. There are a lot more qualified folks out there to help. Here are some of them…

The team at Career Planning has a plethora of articles to help us. The resume section is quite robust and leads a person from start to finish. Check it out:

Resume Writing Basics
Review: The Resume Catalog
Lying On Your Resume
Putting Together An ASCII Resume
Keyword e-Resume Tutorial
Free Resume Banks
Why Employers Use Resume Banks

Don’t know about you guys, but there’s nothing I love more in the world then a super fun check list. The team at Monster walks us through the Have You's of proper resume writing:

First Impression

Appearance

Resume Sections

Career Goal

Accomplishments

Relevance

Writing Style

More 2morrow on The Wonderful World o' Resumes...