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Sunday, 12 April 2009

Good-bye Online Dating

So I decided to give up on online dating (for the 5th time). I've been trying it for over the last year without any results, so it's time to try a new strategy. I haven't had much luck in finding a partner in crime, and I realized maybe I've been trying too hard. I'm the type of person that thinks that things happen when it's the right time, and they usually occur when you least expect it. So why keep trying after over a year of no success.

I've been pretty busy with my life anyways, I don't really have a lot of time for a relationship. I guess that's a good thing, I feel like I've made a lot of headway as far as school and building on my career skills. I finally have my own car, which I have been wanting for the last three or four years. I'm really happy with where I am in life, I don't have any complaints. But I think having a boyfriend would be the icing on the cake.

I think my problem is I'm super picky, and I don't like settling. I'm also a hopeless romantic so if I'm going to see someone, I want to be swept off my feet. I know I ask for a tall order, so that means being single for a long time until I find someone like that. But I think I have a lot going on for me even without a boyfriend.

My car has become my baby. I'm quite happy with it despite having to do a costly clutch job right off the bat. I've finally learned how to drive stick, and it's way more fun than driving automatic. It's not always fun in heavy traffic, but I've learned to deal with it. I want to make it look pimped out, but I have to be careful about what I spend. At this point there's not much point dumping money into cosmetics because the car isn't worth a whole lot. I also have tuition to pay for. My summer tuition alone is $2200.

I only have a few more weeks left at work. Then after that I'm back to school for three or four semesters, depending on how well my schedule works out. After that... the sky is the limit I guess. I'm pretty excited about going back to school. Maybe because it's in the summer and I'll be able to hang out at the beach between classes. I'll miss the paycheques, but I'm usually pretty lucky with falling into job opportunities (*knocks on wood*).

But until then, work will be pretty crazy up until the day I leave. They'll be working me pretty hard... but in the end it will be worth it. I have an amazing resume with this job under my belt. Despite the recession, I'm optimistic about where I'll end up after I graduate with my degree.

Things are all good.

-A

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Many Mountains To Climb

Two words that I've come to hate is "I can't". I can't this, I can't that, I can't because, I can't I can't I can't.

I used to make a lot of excuses for not being able to do something, or giving up before I even started, thinking I would never have the ability to accomplish something. I've come to adopt a new phrase... which is pretty similar, but takes on a whole different meaning: "I can't... yet"

Now obviously there is a fine line between putting your mind to something and accomplishing a goal, and being ignorant and flogging a dead horse. I'm talking about realistic goals and aspirations. As much as I love playing guitar, I'm not going to be a rock star any time in this life. But as far as other challenges, I may not be able to do them now, but I know I will overcome them, the only question is how I will do it and how long it will take me.

Making excuses or saying "I can't" really doesn't accomplish anything, you're just holding yourself back. I think it's worth making an effort and facing failure than not trying at all and never knowing if you could overcome the challenge. Challenges aren't easy, that's why they're challenges, and that's why it's so fulfilling when you finally overcome it. If life was never hard, then you never really appreciate the good in life. And it's not even always about the finish line, it's about the journey. The challenge is worthwhile because you look back and think "wow, I've come a long way."

It's also a mistake to assume that people who have overcome all those challenges and goals are happy. People who don't have anything to work towards anymore are miserable people. They have no more purpose in life. To be happy you have to always strive for new things as you accomplish your current goals. People get stuck in a rut and lose motivation when they don't reassess their situation and seek out the next step.

Some things take time, and that's something I struggle with all the time. I want results now! But that's not always how things work, some things you just can't rush. I get really frustrated when I'm at a roadblock when I'm trying to accomplish something, that's just part of the process. I take my mind off it for a bit, then come back to it later. Usually if I give it a little time or think about it a little more, I find new solutions, and I can move onto the next step. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance, but in the end, it's the ones that stick it out that get the biggest reward. Even if it doesn't work out, at least you made the effort and you still take something from the experience.

I don't think ANYTHING is possible, but I think a lot is. There are a lot of things I would like to do, I just can't do them... yet.

-A

Tuesday, 09 December 2008

Professionalism III
So I kinda put off this blog for a while. Since I'm kinda lazy I'll keep it as short and brief as possible. So how do you write a resume? Well the first thing is you should be looking for a job. A resume is a document that tells an employee who you are, what you can do, and what you've done that says you qualify for the position they are offering. A resume is more than just a piece of paper with a bunch of content, it's like an advertisement, you want to grab the employer's attention with all that good stuff you have on your resume as well as presentation.

Here are some basic guidelines:
- have your name, address, and contact information in a clear and visible location
- never include personal information like your age, gender, ethnicity, height, etc unless it is applicable to the job position (e.g. a modeling job)
- you don't have to write every single job you've had or every skill you possess
- only include relevant information that highlight your qualifications for the specific job you're applying for
- keep your resume information organized and chronological from the most relevant to least relevant information
- avoid large blocks of texts, keep it simple to scan and read, using bullets and point form can be useful
- if you don't have a lot of work experience, try to come up with anything from extracirricular activities, clubs, or informal jobs you have done, like volunteering or babysitting
- make it look nice! don't just use Times New Roman font in one size for your whole resume, use a letterhead to add design and originality to your resume to make it stand out from the others
- do not use more than 3 types of font in one document, that includes bold, itallics, and underline even if it's in the same font type and size
Your resume should include most of these sections in the most relevant order in your resume:
- Skills (required)
- Education (required)
- Work Experience (required)
- Certifications (if applicable)
- Affiliations (optional)
- Awards (optional)
- Interests/Hobbies (optional)
Some resumes have an "Objective" that states what the applicant is looking for, but it's not necessary. It's obvious you want the job! You don't need to make up some fancy excuse for why you're applying.

The order of these sections depend on what kind of job you are applying for and what is most important to the employer. If the job requires a degree or some kind of special training, you will want to list education first. If the job is mostly hands on or requires a lot of tasks then you will want to discuss your skills first. For a job that requires X amount of years of experience, you will want to list your previous work experiences in a related field near the beginning of your resume.

Normally you would describe different responsibilities and tasks you did under each job in your work experience section. My personal approach is to have a separate "Skills" section at the very beginning of your resume to highlight some of the skills you have that reflect the job you are applying for. This helps grab the employer's attention because you are basically telling them what they are looking for and they are more likely to keep reading your resume in detail. Under each job in the "Work Experience" section, use the STAR approach to describing skills. Refer to my last blog, "Professionalism II" for using the STAR approach.

If you're job requires specific certifications, obviously you want to list those first. An employer might feel like they are wasting their time looking at your resume if they find at at the very end of your resume that you don't have the necessary certifications to be qualified for the job. This being said, it never hurts to apply for a position that you are not fully qualified to do. Many employers will look at "fit" over qualifications when hiring someone. They would much rather hire someone that they can get along with and are willing to train than a candidate who has all the qualifications but not the personality.

The format of a resume is very personalized unlike a cover letter, which has a specific business letter format. There are many ways you can make a resume, but there are some ways you can really mess it up. Having 0.2" margins doesn't really work. Having a huge paragraph doesn't work either. My rule of thumb is keep it clear, concise and relevant and you can't go wrong.

Here's a sample template of a resume:
===============================
John Smith
123 Apple Road, Greenburg, BC, 1A1 A1A, Canada
Phone: 555.555.5555 Email: j.smith@server.ca

Skills
- At ABC Advertising company I was responsible for designing the concept for two of the company's most viewed ads on television which increased our sales of product X by 23%
- ...
- ...
- ...
- ...
Education
- 2001~2005 Simon Fraser University, Communications BSc. with focus on Advertising
- 1999~2001 Gleneagle Secondary School
Work Experience
- 2006-2008 Communications Director, ABC Advertising
- 2003~2005 Editor, Student's Voice Magazine
- 2001~2003 Writer, Highschool High Newsletter
Affiliations
- 2000-2004, RinkRage Hockey Team, Goalie
Awards
- 1998, Best Sportsmanship Award, Hockey
- 2001, Summit Entrance Scholarship, SFU
- 2003, Radio Advertising Contest, 1st place
Interests/Hobbies
- Hockey
- Curling
- Painting
- Paintball
References Available Upon Request
===============================

Again, this is just a very basic sample, your resume may look very different. I've seen some people organize their information into tables. You can always look up sample resumes online, just google it! Anyways, I think this is the end of my Professionalism series. Now onto blog about other things!

-A

Thursday, 04 December 2008

Professionalism II
I'm continuing my blog on professionalism but I realized one of the first things you have to know how to do is to identify and express your skills. This is a prerequisite to writing a resume or cover letter so I'm going to spend some time discussing skills. I'll start this blog by explaining the difference between skills vs. talent, discuss how to express your qualities, and finally I'll go over how you would express a skill you have to an employer.
Skills VS. Talent
Skill, "an ability that has been acquired by training."

A skill can be learned, and it usually involves doing something like changing a light bulb, writing an essay, or cooking chicken. Your skill set is the collection of skills that you have and the things you are able to do. When you're identifying your skills for a cover letter or resume, you should identify skills that are related to that particular job description. If you're applying for an office position, the employer doesn't really care if you know how to change the spark plugs on your car. Instead you want to list things like knowing how to use a computer, answering telephones, using a photocopier, knowing how to organize files, etc. Keep your skills relevant to the job description.

Talent, "endowment: natural abilities or qualities."

It's easy to confuse talent with skill. Talent is not always tangible, it's difficult to pin down. An example to illustrate talent is bowling. Bowling is a skill that can be learned, but not everyone who learns to bowl has the ability to consistently bowl strikes. One could learn the techniques of how to bowl a strike, but only a person with talent would be able to do it with ease. Another way to put it, talent is the icing on the cake.

When writing a resume, you want to focus on listing your skills because they are tangible, concrete, and easily understood by the employer. Expressing talent can be challenging because it is not always tangible or concrete. You may possess similar skills as other candidates but talent makes your skill set unique and different. Make sure you express both in your cover letter or resume but don't focus too much on one or the other. You want to show the employer a solid set of skills you possess, but they also want to know what makes you special and why they should pick you over the other candidates.
Expressing your Qualities
Qualities refer to your personality traits. Examples of favorable qualities are reliable, punctual, organized, thoughtful, and kind. Some examples of not so nice qualities are tardy, lazy, rude, and arrogant. Your goal is to show the employer how awesome you are without appearing arrogant. There is only so much real estate on your resume (two pages) that the best way to express your great qualities is to integrate them when listing your skills. Adjectives are your friend, use them wisely.

Here is an example, "When working at a retail store, I always demonstrated excellent customer service skills by courteously greeting customers."

See what I did there? You don't just have customer service skills, you have EXCELLENT customer service skills, and you ALWAYS demonstrate it! Instead of saying "I am courteous" it was slipped into the statement passively. This example leads to the next step, how to express your skills.
How to Describe Your Skills
Employers want to know what you can do, but they want to know what specific things you have done! If you say "I can count pennies", that's a general statement, it doesn't explain or prove anything. If you say "I counted 60 rolls worth of pennies for a school fundraiser raising money for cancer research" then it says a lot more than just your ability to count pennies. You described a situation, what you did, and your purpose.

In co-op we learned the STAR approach to describing a skill:
- S for Situation
- T for Task
- A for Action
- R for Result
You can't go wrong with this formula, it's specific and it tells an employer what they want to know. Here is an example:
- At Safeway, a customer spilled liquid detergent in the aisle and I was assigned to clean it. I set up cones to block the area during cleaning and ensured the floor was dry. I was able to complete the task before anyone slipped and injured themselves in the aisle.
This description is a little long, and it would probably be more appropriate in a cover letter, but let's try something more concise for a resume:
- At [Company X] I wrote an expenditure report, resulting in the company making an adjustment to the annual budget to save $360 000 per year.
Remember to be specific. What company? What report? How much? Give specifics! This being said, never give away internal or confidential information from past employers! If you're not sure, ask for permission! It never hurts to ask first.
Conclusion
So whenever you're looking at a job posting, identify at least 3~5 key skills, then take a STAR approach to each one. Once you have these, writing your resume or cover letter will become much easier and effective. Another tip is whenever you start a new job, keep a record of skills that you gain or use and write them in the STAR format. This way, the next time you look for a job you already have a list of skills ready to put into your job application! I'll go over resumes in my next blog.

-A

Wednesday, 03 December 2008

Professionalism
I guess since I've been drilled so much on professionalism and resume and cover letter writing in co-op I forgot how little exposure most people get to this aspect of job hunting. No one really teaches you how to write an effective cover letter or resume and the importance of how they look! Letterhead? What's that? Content is often overlooked and how you present it is really crucial. You're trying to sell yourself, it's like an advertisement.
Become a Sellout
As an example to illustrate my point, two companies are selling product X and have created an advertisement poster. Both companies get product X from the same manufacturer and distributor, but each brand it as their own. Company A brands their product X with a logo and a witty slogan that tells you what the product will do for you. Company B has a black and white ad, no picture, with a title of product X written in the font Times New Roman, and their slogan says why they want you to buy it.

So... which one is more appealing? You can argue all you want about advertising but no matter what, people are drawn to the fancier and shiny ads even if both products are exactly the same, just like two candidates with similar qualifications applying for the same job!

Company A's poster is more eye-catching, and people are more drawn to it and are more curious to read more. Company B's poster is very plain and is asking you to buy it, and when it's next to Company A's ad, it just can't compete. Don't let your resume be like Company B's ad! You're trying to be a sellout here, you're gonna play every trick to get that employer to look at your resume.

Another point is Company A advertised what their product can do for you, whereas Company B's advertisement said why you should buy it. I hope that you would agree that Company A has a more effective approach to convincing you why you should buy their product. Employers are the customer, why should they hire you? What can you do for them?
The Cover Letter
I think the cover letter is one of the most overlooked aspects of a job application. If you haven't talked to the manager or human resources representative in person already, this is your chance to make your pitch, highlight your skills, and use your own voice to attract the employer. The purpose of a cover letter is not only an introduction, it's your chance to explain the skills you have and elaborate on specific experiences or activities you're involved in.

Format is an important aspect of the cover letter. Format refers to the style of the document, or where specific information is located on your document and how it should be presented, e.g. where you put the date. A cover letter that is not formatted correctly looks messy and unprofessional and the employer won't take you seriously. Period. Formatting may seem trivial and tedious, but proper formatting communicates that you are professional and you are serious about the application. There are tons of resources and examples of proper formatting. Any document you submit communicates more than its content.
For Your Reference
Here's an example for those of you too lazy to look up how it should look like:

================================

[Letterhead goes here]

[Date]

[Name of Contact Person, if applicable]
[Position of Contact person, if applicable]
[Company Name]
[Company Address Line 1]
[Company Address Line 2]
[Company Postal Code]

Re: [Job position/Job number]

Dear Mr./Ms. [Contact Person]:

[Paragraph 1]

[Paragraph 2]

[Paragraph 3]

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

================================

This is how I format and organize my cover letters. It's a very basic template that can work for any job application. It should all fit on one page, if not, adjust your left and right margins, but no less than 0.75 inches! Otherwise it just looks bad, trust me. If it's still not fitting then you're going to edit down or write more conscisely! Also, use no more than 3 different font types or sizes in one document, that includes bold, itallic and underline. E.g., "Times New Roman" and "Times New Roman" are considered two different font types even if they are the same size!

For the sake of brevity, I'll describe each section in point form:

The Letterhead
- is like a brand logo, it contains your name, address, and contact information
- a designer letterhead is what creates your individuality and separates you from the other candidates
- you can create a simple design in your word processor or go all out and use a program like Adobe Illustrator and import a graphic
- if you're not graphically inclined, look up examples on the internet or ask a friend to help you
Date
- pretty easy, write the date you wrote the cover letter
Contact Person and Position
- if you know the name of the person you're sending the application to, include it in your cover letter
- make sure you don't spell their name wrong or write down the wrong position!
- if you're not sure, leave it blank
Company Address
- look it up! most companies have web sites or if you're old school, check the phone book!
- if they have more than one branch or office, write down the one that you are applying to work at
Re: Job Position/Job Number
- specify the job you are applying for
- the employer may be getting lots of applications for different positions and they're not going to bother asking you what position you are applying for, they will simply throw out your application!
Dear Mr./Ms. ... :
- Always use "Dear" and end the line with a colon, :
- if you don't have a specific name, write "Dear Manager:" or "Dear Human Resources:"
- don't spell the contact's name wrong!
- for females, use "Ms." because you don't know if they're married or not
Paragraph 1
- introduce yourself (but don't use "I'm a student at blah blah blah" as your first line!)
- tell them how you found out about the position
- tell them why you are interested in the position
- tell them what you can offer them by taking the position (you should have plenty to offer!)
- express enthusiasm without sucking up or being cheesy
Paragraph 2
- if you have a job description, pick at least 3 important and required skills for the position
- for each skill, describe a specific experience of a problem/situation where you used that skill and what was the outcome
- I emphasize SPECIFIC, employers don't want general statements, they want SPECIFIC experiences you've had to deal with
- also highlight extracirricular activities or other outside-of-work experiences you have that will enhance your skills, use them to your benefit! It shows that you have passion and motivation!
- always use direct and positive language, never mention faults of anyone else, this show that you take responsibility for any situation
Paragraph 3
- this is your closing statement, don't list anymore skills here, that's for Paragraph 2
- briefly restate why you're interested in the position and what you can offer
- ask for an interview like it's not a choice for them! "I look forward to the interview"
Sincerely, Your Name
- Write your full, legal, name!
- If you have a given name you can write it in brackets: First (Given) Last
- Sign between the lines if you're handing in a hard copy
So Now What?
Writing a cover letter should take you a long time, it's not easy! I know, I've written many. But the more you write the better and faster you get. To be able to write an amazing cover letter is knowing what skills you have and how you communicate them to the employer. It also helps to do a little research of the company so you know what you're getting yourself into... But anyways, this is only the cover letter! I'll cover how to write your resume in my next blog, so stay tuned...

-A