Simply Irresistible – Show Them How Great You Really Are

I’m always surprised when I ask a person who’s been working professionally for 15+ years if they have a bio and they say, “No, I’ve never needed one” or “I’m not sure what I’d use it for.”

Stable employment can breed complacency.

If there is a silver lining to our current unemployment situation it is that many people now know they need to continually network proactively. An essential tool for networking is a bio. Whether you are providing background information about yourself for a committee position at your church or a board at a non profit; a bio makes it easy for people to get a good glimpse into who you are and what your experience has been.

A bio is different from a resume in that it is a narrative. The goal is tell a story about yourself that helps the reader understand where you’ve worked, what interests you and what is special about you. It only needs to be 4-5 well written paragraphs.

When someone asks to meet me for networking and they send me a resume, I assume they want to ask me for a job. But when they send me a bio, I learn interesting information about the person and I can build a conversation around things I read. I have more information about how I might be able to help.

I happen to be a published author (poetry and non-fiction.) My publications are not related to my work experience but I can highlight this work in my bio. It helps me to let people know my various skills and interests in a short, readable format. I can also highlight the foreign languages I speak or the charities I’m involved in. These help me be human and memorable.

Make sure you have several trusted people read your bio. Writing a concise and compelling story is not easy. Everyone has a story. Be sure yours is less blah, blah and more hmm, that’s interesting.

What is it that makes you unique?

http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-write-a-professional-biography

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/07/07/how-to-write-a-professional-bio/

“What Was I Thinking When I Put That on My Resume?”

My friend asked me to review her online presence. She is new to the job market so I started by looking at her resume. She was using an AOL email address. In my world, even 5+ years ago, AOL was for people who had technophobia. In 2009, a dated or inappropriate email address is a big problem for a person looking for a new position.

If you have an outmoded email address, I suggest you go to Google and sign up for a Gmail account. Here’s why:
• It’s good to have 2 email addresses, including at least one that you can always access from wherever you are (not just from your home computer).
• Gmail doesn’t identify your geography. My road runner account does. Big deal? Maybe not, but do you want to be eliminated at the email address from a hiring manager looking at your credentials?
• It’s the email address that many professionals have.
There are other services beside Gmail, pick one and go for it. I have a twitter, Linked In and regular email account. What do you think this says about me?

Next I looked at her Linked In profile. No photo. Hmmm. Her profile did not look as professional as those with photos. If I’m the hiring manager I’m wondering, “Is she hiding something?” Is she older? Post your photo or not, it’s up to you. But realize the ramifications if you don’t post a picture may be negative. I hear excellent Linked In advice to fill out your profile completely. I haven’t done that yet. I’m at 80+% I need to finish it by getting recommendations. Making sure it’s complete will help you get ‘found’ when companies are looking to hire.

The link below is written by an HR person took a pile of 850 resumes and whittled it down to 15. Here are some of the criteria that she used.
• Any resume (about 20%) that had misspellings was tossed out.
• Any unprofessional Linked In or Facebook entry was tossed out.
Take a minute and read her informative story.

I just read a story about a woman who reported to her first day of work to her new supervisor’s office and on his desk was the thank you note she had written to him. He told her that she was the only person who had hand written a note and it really impressed him. A handwritten thank you note may not get you the job, but it may be one of the differentiators between you and your competition.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/time-money/career/sfl-marcia-workplace-resume-0325,0,5975459.column