Wednesday, May 13, 2009

And so...

Thanks to Bill Gates, Steve Wozniac and their brilliant staff of caffeinated geeks, creating a resume that looks, smells and tastes extremely professional is as easy as one, two, oops…spell check didn’t catch Alan being anal. The new guy on the line already has your papers, do you call him? What’s the proper method of redelivering? Should you walk away with your tail tucked between your legs?



Don’t even think about sinking the blame into the veins of your laptop or tower. Life without them would be miserable. Blackberry’s and all things that impersonate palm power are a different story. The visual is excruciatingly too small and thumb typing on the world’s smallest keyboard does nothing but make room for your imagination to assume things look right.



Editing is everything! I learned that valuable lesson during the publishing process of my first book. Getting it out of your head and onto a computer screen is step one, but that doesn’t make it perfect. Once completed, the book was read and reread, a personal journey to locate idiot mistakes. There! I did it! Time for the publisher to get to work so I can get this book on shelves as far away as India…not so fast disc jockey boy!



Five more edits. This had to be moved here, that over there, can we get a new opening and since we’re helping you with the editing, we want to be credited, which means changing the front and back cover.



Resumes are no different. It’s a short story about your life. As secretive as you want to be during these days of finding the better job, it’s best to either hire a professional to paint your trail or load up the ranks of resume readers who quickly notice your name has nothing to do with the human body and or emotion.



So what do you do when something’s been missed? Author Anne Marie Sabath says, “Correct it then send it back with the words REVISED in the upper right hand corner of your cover letter.”



A future boss or two might be forgiving in accepting a badly computed resume, we’ve all been there, it showcases an I can relate with that working environment. You’re gifted the interview…out of habit your best friend tags along, the cell phone. Like most friends at an extremely important meeting, it chooses to ring…will the one conducting the interview continue to be locked in the mode of I can relate?



Anne Marie gives you the inside scoop, “Apologize then switch the phone to off without looking at the incoming number.” Starting today make it a good habit to shove that little buddy into vibrate each time you walk into a building…for no better reason than to help end noise pollution.



And then you hear those golden words, “Although things haven’t truly been incredibly smooth, we still want you to be part of our winning team. We need your answer within 48 hours.”



Oh oh…come on! During these modern times, it’s stupid to pour your energy into just one job opening; lazy is the person who doesn’t cram more than one interview into a single twenty four hour period? You’ve got two or three possibilities dangling on a string…now you have two days to determine if this job best suits you. What is the proper thing to do?



WARNING: Say nothing about the other job offers.



First of all, congratulations on nearly getting back up on your feet…I knew you could do it! Secondly, thank the latest business interested in you for such an incredible opportunity. Once back home, take the dogs out, talk to the bird in the cage then sit down and write an email to the other potential employers. Let them know of your most recent accomplishment and if you truly are in the top three of their picks they’ll be forced to play the hand without damaging the relationship just created with the company that physically said, “Yes.”



Stop stop stop! Three day’s have gone by…you told them you wanted to perform within their walls. But the man who hired was just fired. Where does your future stand now?



Ladies and gentleman, appearing in the right hand side of your computer screen is Anne Marie Sabath! Give her a big hand! “Don’t instantly think the journey is over…calmly ask to speak to the company hiring manager. Because you took the time to send an email thanking the person who wanted to hire you and they responded with brilliant words, thoughts and something that looked like a welcome mat, share the email with hiring manager.



If the response is, “Hmmm Mr. Bean Pole’s final pages in our book weren’t living up to our expectations, any decisions and or moves he elected to put into play are no longer part of our current game plan.” Very peacefully thank Old Mother Hubbard for her time and pull out the Bat mobile…we’re hitting the road again tomorrow.



Stay strong, stay healthy and do all you can to thank everybody for all things taking place. It’s an incredible way to meet new people! Life in America is like a raging mountain river…the only problem is we’re stuck in the middle of a major drought. The solid granite rocks are tall, wide, jagged and torn, the moss has dried, the birds fly over without touching the surface because they’ve learned where there is no water there is no food. Nobody seems to volunteer what little energy is left to hoist the stones for the elements beneath its purpose, so we keep walking, up, down, across, to and away from…some stop to rest, a few longer than most, a couple quit while the rest pick up their luggage seeking to hold the open hand of new discovery.



Ladies and Gentleman, now appearing in the right hand side of your computer screen Mr. Steve Perry and the group Journey who’ll now sing, “Don’t stop believing.”



Steal their art…



arroecollins@clearchannel.com

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