It’s been a while, but we’re back with day #3. Did you get organized? If you don’t know what I’m talking

Take time to write out, in detail, all of your skills for each job.

about, please refer back to Day #2 for reference.

Today is an opportunity for us to get a little deeper, and dig into your work history a bit more. All of this work is going to be more involved, but will really help if you haven’t worked on your resume in a while, or you are running into dead ends when looking for jobs.It will really help to answer the age-old question that almost every employer will ask, or is thinking, which is “Why should they hire me?”

During your job search, you must keep in mind that looking for a job is like launching a new product, and YOU are that product. You must know everything about your product, why it is appealing, and then go about marketing it properly. That is what this next step is about.

Day #2 was more general, Day #3 is going to be more specific. So get your pen and notebook ready and let’s go!

The first thing we are going to get into is your work history. Remember when we talked about different ways that you can talk about what you do? Here are some questions that you should be asking for each job that you are listing on your resume. Keep in mind, ALL of this information is NOT going to be on your resume, but the more information you have (in your head) the more at ease you will be during your interview or interviews when they come.

1. Employer Name
2. Length of time there – be honest on this one. If you happen to get the job and they run a background check and dates of employment don’t match up, it could cost you the job.
3. Reason for leaving. Really think about this. If you were laid off, write that down. However remember that “laid off” is not necessarily the same as fired. Laid off usually indicates that a number of people were let go due to company issues. Fired typically indicates that someone was laid off because of their own issues within the company.
4. Which department were you in? What did they do in that department
5. What were your primary responsibilities?
6. Did you create anything, improve a process or save the company money in some way? This is where we begin to get into the “quantifiable” areas of your job. The things that make employers take a look at your resume and get excited. If the answer is no, try to think of how to improve this on your current or next job.
7. What education do you have? List all education, and don’t forget to include any classes taken, seminars attended that your company may have paid you to attend etc.
8. List all special skills. Do you speak a few different languages fluently? Are you a great public speaker? Do you volunteer at your church? You would be surprised how many skills you have that you aren’t marketing, and remember honey, it’s all about marketing!

If you do this exercise right, and really start to think about everything (and do this for EACH job) you should start to see some really strong areas of expertise that you have coming into focus for yourself.You might see that you possess more ability than you gave yourself credit for.

The next piece that we are going to work on are your dreams. Yes, you are looking for a job, but while you are looking, why not think about where you would LIKE to be, what type of career would you love to have?

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. ~ Walt Disney

Let your imagination really fly. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Here are some questions for you to consider:

1. What industries would you like to work in? Here are some ideas to get you started: Non profit, technology, telecom, fashion, retail, privately owned, government. etc. For a more comprehensive list of industries check out this website: Industry Browser at Yahoo!

2. Where do you want to be? Don’t limit yourself to where you are at. Do you want to work a few miles from home? Do you want to work in another country? Write it out in detail. This really works and helps people to flesh out what they really want, and then move forward to make it happen.

3. What hours do you want to work? How many hours do you need to work? Think about whether you are looking for full-time, or part-time employment. Think about if you are looking to be exempt or non exempt. etc.

Allow yourself to really imagine what you WANT. It will help when we get to the search portion of your job search.

Until next time, keep pushing forward!

Together in Excellence,

The Working Diva