Do you have a completely unblemished work history? Was writing your resume a breeze because you are perfectly qualified with a model career and educational background?

Or, do you find yourself struggling to prepare your resume…struggling because of some glitch or problem in your background that you don’t know quite how to overcome in your resume?

* Maybe you are too old…or too young…

* Maybe you have an obvious gap in your work history…

* Maybe you have changed employers too many times…

* Maybe you are a new graduate with little-to-no relevant experience…

* Maybe you are an executive who needs to explain what appears to be a demotion…

* Maybe you are returning to the workforce after taking some time off…

* Maybe you are trying to change careers and your past experience doesn’t relate…

Don’t feel alone! It is the extraordinarily rare job searcher who doesn’t struggle with how to deal with some problem on their resume.

As a professional resume writer I have worked with thousands and thousands of clients, and while every single one of those clients is unique, they all have one thing in common: they have a problem that they need me to solve for them. How do I do it? Very honestly, each individual client often requires a solution that is as unique as he or she is. But, prior to starting and new resume writing project for a client, there are six steps that I carefully think through. As you work on developing or refining your own resume — as you try to come up with ways to transform YOUR troubled work history into a job-winning resume — it may be helpful for you to work through the same six steps.

Step #1 – Know your goal

What is your current career goal? What profession? What industry? What professional level? Knowing your objective and your goals for a job search is the foundation of not just your resume, but of your entire job search. Unless you know where you are going, you will have no idea what the focus of your resume must be and you won’t even have a clue how to begin writing it. Don’t expect a busy employer to figure it out for you. Your resume must have a precise focus and it must convey that focus in five seconds or less. If it doesn’t, it will be discarded. It is that simple.

Step #2 – Know your audience

Now that you know your goal, you are in a position to begin thinking about the recipients of your resume. What are the expectations and requirements of a candidate for the job you are targeting? What are the problems that a person in your ideal position is likely to be faced with? Remember (speaking of problems) that the person doing the hiring has problems that they are hoping their new-hire will solve. What are those problems? Do they need to increase sales? Reduce costs? Increase productivity? Improve efficiency? If you clearly identify the problems of your target audience, you can construct an entire resume focused on how you are the ideal candidate to solve them. Do that effectively and whatever issue you are dealing with in your troubled work history will suddenly become a non-issue.

An employee is an investment, and if you can create a resume that proves you will produce a better RETURN on that investment than the next guy (even the one with the squeaky clean work history), doors will swing open to you.

Step #3 – Know your competition

Who is your competition in the job market? What qualifications might they have that you don’t have? Do you have qualifications that your competition doesn’t have? For most situations, I’m not referring to specific individuals. Obviously you wouldn’t want to violate the privacy of any specific person competing for the same type of job. But, there is definite value in trying to define your competition in generalities. What types of qualifications does the typical candidate have for the job you are targeting?

Very clearly defining your competition is a crucial part of step #4…

Step #4 – Clearly identify the problem(s)

Okay. Now that you know where you are going, know what your audience is seeking, and know what your competition brings to the table, you are ready to fully define the problem or problems that your resume must overcome.

Some of those problems might be obvious. Work-history gaps, concerns about age discrimination, and multiple job changes are among the most common. But, having worked your way through the prior three steps, you may have identified others. Are there key qualifications you are lacking? Educational requirements that you don’t quite meet? Ways that your experience doesn’t quite stand up to your competition? Whatever those problems might be, make sure you define them. In the next step, we will begin to solve them.

Step #5 – Be willing to throw the rules out the window and think outside the box

Now, take everything you have ever read or learned about resume writing and forget it. Well, maybe not everything, but at this point you definitely do need to begin thinking creatively and strategically.

Remember that a resume is essentially an advertisement – a marketing piece – a personal sales pitch. Resumes are NOT autobiographies! They are personal marketing documents meant to sell you as the ideal candidate for a particular position. Everything about the content, the structure, and the design of your resume should be strategically and selectively included, excluded, highlighted, or de-emphasized.

Always be absolutely and meticulously honest, but be willing to think outside the box and present your background in a format and structure that will be most flattering to you in relation to the career goal you are targeting.

Do you want to be one of a kind? Or do you want to be one of many? Your resume is meant to make you stand out and shine. You will NOT achieve this by following some rigid template and structure that doesn’t have the flexibility to showcase your unique qualifications.

Step #6 – Reframe, reposition, reformat, and redesign

It is really all about how you frame and position your experience, your achievements, your educational background, and any other qualifications. Once you get to this step, you are ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard) and begin writing your resume. Take what you know about the expectations and the desires of your target audience, combine this with your understanding of the competition and the problems you defined in Step #4, and start writing your resume.

Perhaps you are making a career change into a completely new profession. While it is often not immediately obvious to the recipient of your resume, much of your experience is usually transferable. How can you “reframe” your past experience to selectively emphasize the transferable skills and de-emphasize those that will no longer be relevant?

Is there a qualification you are lacking for the position you are targeting? It is very common for a person to have developed a particular qualification in a non-traditional way, from some other seemingly unrelated experience. How can you “reposition” that experience to illustrate the qualification in question?

Maybe you are returning to a career path that you veered away from ten years ago. Your recent experience is not as relevant as your past experience. What opportunities do you have to “reformat” your resume to bring the older skills to the forefront?

Or maybe you have a couple of big gaps in your work history. Can you think of a way to “redesign” your resume to take the visual emphasis off of the chronology/dates of your experience and place it instead on your achievements and results?

So, what problems does your resume need to solve? What challenges are you dealing with that you must face to turn your less-than-perfect work history into an effective resume? As you get started, remember, it is words on a piece of paper. It is easy to edit and move things around. Don’t be afraid to experiment (just do it BEFORE you use it in the job market!).

If you aren’t sure what the best solution is, create several versions and ask your friends and family for feedback before choosing the one you use in your search. And, if you get stuck, that is what professional resume writers are here for! We can often provide solutions that you would never have thought of on your own.

Do you want to use this article in your ezine, website, or other publication? You are welcome to as long as you use the following text with it:

February 12th, 2009, is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincolns’ birthday

The Life Story of Abraham Lincoln for Young People – American Era History Book Review

History Book Review:

Book Title/Title Page:

The Life of Abraham Lincoln For Young People
Told in One Syllable Words

By Harriet  Putnam
Illustrated
Copyright 1906
Published by McLoughlin Brothers, New York

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About This Version

This is a review of an American era antiquarian history book that is a short biography of the life of Abraham Lincoln created especially for younger people to read. This is an unabridged, and enhanced ebook version which includes the original text and illustrations, plus additional supplemental images and photographs, and music.

The original, printed version of this book is a good quality hardbound book, printed in a large type format, for easy reading. The book includes approximately 144 textual pages, with associated images. There are about 60 images, most of which are black and white images, however there are also color plates. The presentation, editing, and production are flawless; a modern word processing program could not have done better.

The original content has been enhanced and supplemented by additional images and photographs of the era, and a selection of civil war music. The images are associated with the text, and may be magnified for better viewing, and can also be viewed as slide shows. This version also includes a selection of music of the period, and the Civil War.

While the printed version of this antiquarian book is rare, and  out-of print,  it can be found, especially on the Internet; the purchase price depends on the condition of the book.  Since this book was published over a hundred years old, even one in good condition will be somewhat delicate, and easily damaged. Often books of this age are not really suitable for normal, every day reading because the act of reading them might damage them. Even so, it is still possible to find a printed version of the book, and they are very readable if the book is in good condition.

Obviously, the downside of reading this ebook version is that you will need a PC to read it. It’s difficult to curl-up in your favorite chair, and read an ebook from a PC screen; (however, it is not completely out of the question if you have a laptop computer). However, there is also an upside to reading an ebook: you will be able to hear music of the Civil War, and view images, and search the text, and print pages, etc, and it won’t be worn-out in a hundred years.

The author, Harriet Putnam, is also known for her art work, and prints of her work can be viewed, and purchased on the Internet. The Life of Abraham Lincoln includes five color prints that are popular among enthusiasts. Putnam also wrote another book entitled Lives of the Presidents, Told in One-syllable Words.

Comments:

This book is unique in that the story is told in one syllable words.  Multi-syllable words are broken into their individual syllable

Written especially for young people, the text and grammar are geared to the younger reader, and every word is divided into it’s individual syllables. This is a great book for reading comprehension, pronunciation, and to practice reading out loud, or silently.

As an example,  the following paragraph of the book; note how the words are purposely
broken into syllables:

“The hut, not much more than a cow-shed, held the fa-ther and moth-er, whose names were Thom-as and Nan-cy, and their girl child, Sa-rah. These three were the first who saw the strange, sad face of the boy, who, when he grew to be a man, was so great and good and did such grand deeds that all the world gave most high praise to him.”

This book is a classic story of Abraham Lincolns’ life. From his meager birth in a tiny  cabin, to his legendary strength, and honesty, and humor, and compassion. It’s the story of the Rail Splitter, who worked hard to earn money and help his family, and who spent his evenings studying and reading by the light of a fireplace in order to better himself.

The images throughout are perfect for the young reader. Pictures of Lincoln as a child offering fish to a soldier, or seeing him as the Postmaster, or a store clerk, help young readers identify with Lincoln. His defense of the underdog, and compassion for animals is well illustrated. This version includes a photograph of a replica of the tiny cabin in which Lincoln was born that really illustrates how small the cabin was; the whole cabin isn’t much bigger than most bedrooms.

These images have an impact on young people; pictures of Lincoln reading and studying by fire light, or splitting rails, or reading to his son, Tad, etc, are images that I still recall from my own childhood.

The images  necessary to tell about the Civil War are quite tame. They convey the story without being graphic. The images are mostly black and white sketches, with some color images; there are a few actual photographs that were gleaned from other sources, including an actual picture of Lincoln visiting Union troops.

Several of the music selections are Civil War songs that are played by an orchestra, in the original, authentic instrumentation and style of the Civil War. They sound very much as
they did in 1865.

The story of Abraham Lincoln is the story of America; the story that anyone can attain greatness, and make a difference, if they are honest, and hard working, and have the desire, all of which Abraham Lincoln possessed.

Since this is an antiquarian work, the style and prose of the post-Victorian era in which it was produced, lend a certain flare, and drama, that is not present in many modern biographies. It adds a certain quaintness that is pleasant, and fun to read because it is far detached from our modern American era history.

This is a fine book for a young persons first time exposure to the life of Abraham Lincoln.

The End
BJ012709YPL01

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER I. THE BABE OF THE LOG CABIN AND HIS KIN

CHAPTER II. THE NEW HOME AND THE FIRST GRIEF

CHAPTER III. READING BY THE FIRELIGHT ; THE NEW MOTHER ; THE FIRST DOLLAR

CHAPTER IV THE SLAVE SALE; LINCOLN AS SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, SURVEYOR,
AND LAWYER

CHAPTER V. LEADER FOR FREEDOM; LAW MAKER LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 39-54

CHAPTER VI. LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS

CHAPTER VII. THE PEOPLE ASK LINCOLN TO BE THEIR PRESIDENT

CHAPTER VIII. IN THE PRESIDENTIAL CHAIR; THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS

CHAPTER IX. EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR

CHAPTER X.  GRANT WINS IN THE WEST, AND FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS

CHAPTER XI.  ANTIETAM, VICKSBURG, GETTYSBURG

CHAPTER XII. CHATTANOOGA, CHICKAMAUGA, LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. LINCOLN’S
GETTYSBURG SPEECH

CHAPTER XIII. GRANT IN THE EAST; LINCOLN CHOSEN FOR SECOND TERM

CHAPTER XIV. RETURN OF PEACE; LINCOLN SHOT; HIS BURIAL AT SPRINGFIELD