Thanksgiving Social Media

38,454

What’s this number represent you ask? It’s the amount of people who mentioned stuffing on social media this Thanksgiving. Something even more interesting, turkey was mentioned most on Friday– not Thursday. Very interesting.

If you’re like me, you were wondering what other people ate for Thanksgiving. And if you’re like me, you were also adding social media to your list of things to be thankful for because it answered your question about other people’s dinner.

Check out this awesome infographic about turkey day and social media. (source)

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• Social media feast: Instagram, Allrecipes break records on Thanksgiving (geekwire.com)

 

My Poor Resume

As you have seen from my last two post, I have become consumed with perfecting my resume. Now I know that it wasn’t the best copy I had, but I thought it was pretty close. Oh how I was wrong.

In my writing class, we discussed resumes and cover letters. The lecture was helpful, but the handouts were more informational. It gave me something to compare my résumé to, something to model my résumé after.

What was wrong with my résumé (and maybe yours too)

1. Too many words: I thought I cut the words down significantly, but there was still too many
2. Lacked action words: I tried using complete sentences (see first point). Action words are used when describing work experience.
3. Format was ALL wrong: Well it wasn’t completely wrong, it just need some cleaning up. Too much white space in some areas, and not enough in other areas. I should have combined sections.
4. Not enough of my identity: My professor’s says having some type of style will make you stand out. I’m still working on this, but I hope my QR code and new heading will help.

Tell me what you think of my old resume and my new resume. I think it’s an improvement, but what do you think?

Old Resume: Michaela Williams Resume

New Resume: Michaela Williams Resume

Related articles

• Revamping My Resume: QR Code (michaela1123.wordpress.com)
• Top 5 Most Common Resume Mistakes (masteringmanagementcommunication.wordpress.com)
• That prospective employer wants you to communicate your qualifications (danarmishaw.com)

Revamping My Resume: Tips

Writing the post on QR codes inspired me to look up some more way to make my (and your) resume stand out. Using my favorite search engine I found some great tips. Let the fun editing begin!

1. Tailor it to the job. To save time people create a “generic” resume and use it for every job they apply to. Instead of doing this, edit your resume to fit the personality traits needed to fulfill the job and use your real world experience to back it up. (source)
2. Make it easy to read. You hate writing and I’m sure employers are tired of reading long, wordy resumes. Make important headlines stand out by bolding or underlining. Use bullets not paragraphs for job descriptions. Use standard font. If they can’t read it, they won’t hire you. (source)
3. Use extracurricular activities if you lack experiences. Had to choose a paying job over an unpaid internship this summer? Don’t fret. Try listing things you did for school or in clubs to fill that gap. I did not have an internship this summer, but I did help plan and market a big event for a club.
4. Grab attention. Resume’s do not have to be a white sheet of paper. For a job interview, it’s important that the interviewer remembers who you are. Get creative with it by formatting it differently or printing it on fabric. Prezi Resume anyone! (be careful with this one, some employers may not appreciate how creative you are).

Hope these tips helped and inspired you to look at your résumé again. First impressions are important and when applying for a job your first impression is you resume. Are you making a good first impression?

This is only the beginning!

❤ Michaela

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• How a Rock-Solid Resume Strengthens Your Job Search (money.usnews.com)
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Revamping My Resume: QR Code

I am at that stage in my college career where internships become more important than my diploma. Yes an education is important, but in today’s economy an education can only get you so far. It’s all about experience. To get that experience you must have an internship.

So I’m currently applying and I was looking at my résumé and it just looked average. I said to myself, “Everyone who is applying for this internship will have a résumé, what will make ME stand out.”  unfortunately, I did not have an answer. After thinking about it for a few days, it kept me up all night, it dawned on me. I could add a QR code to my résumé linking my potential boss to my portfolio, or my LinkedIn account, of my blog.

What’s a QR code you ask? It’s those boxy bar codes you see everywhere like on posters or products. A person can download an app on his phone, scan the code, and automatically be sent to a webpage or receive contact information.

Right away I got on Google, found me a QR generator, and created my personal code. Right now it’s only connects to my portfolio, but it opens a world of possibilities.  I hope this and a few other things I do to my résumé will help is stick out in a crowd. 

I wonder what else I could use a QR code for? Got any ideas, let me know!

Until next time,

Michaela

Related articles

• What is a Resume? I’ll Tell You What It’s NOT… (kimberlyjmyers.wordpress.com)
• QR Codes Explained and How to Use Them (simplehelp.net)