MouthyGirl.com

5 Rules To Follow Before Sending A Resume

We’ve all had to look for a job before and sent resume after resume and read ad after ad, but how do you get to the interview stage for that valuable face time when you can really turn on the charm and make your sales pitch?

This job market is tough and every job listing gets hoardes of resumes, a lot of which won’t be considered because they don’t meet the minimum job requirements.

So I have a few rules to share with you that will get you much closer to that face time reality, if you follow them.

Rule #1 – Be real, if you don’t meet the minimum job requirements, don’t hit send.

Rule #5 – Read your resume or have a friend read it and ask yourself, would I hire me?

The employer has all the power, they can be picky and they will be if they’re smart – listen, they want a quality employee.

If that job title is one that you want, read the ad and the minimum requirements, if you don’t meet them, DO NOT ANSWER THE AD.

Don’t waste your time, you’re better than that, throw out the maybe and realize that you won’t get a call, send your resume only to people who will consider you because you are qualified.

If you don’t answer all the questions, you will likely be disqualified just for that. For instance, if references and salary requirements are requested, give them. You risk not being considered otherwise. Seems unfair I know, but if you can’t follow directions when you want the job, how are you going to perform if you get it?

Your cover letter is your first opportunity to sell yourself and your abilities. Are you going to sell yourself short? Send a sentence asking to meet? Get real, tell the employer what you can do for them, be a salesperson and sell the product, you.

When answering the ad, don’t have the attitude that they’d be oh so lucky to have you, if you have a chip on your shoulder, this is not the time to let that show. Be very careful and read, then reread it to be sure you can’t do anything but be proud of it and you sound like you’re puckering up. This IS your livelihood we’re talking about right?

Finally, proofread and spellcheck everything, you’ll look lazy if you don’t. If you follow these rules, I know you’ll find more success in your job search and just might get an interview quicker.

Tags: 5 rules, interview, job, job tips, need a job, resume, rules, search

Common Sense at Work

The best way to teach people how you think they should be is to be that person. Do the things you’d like other people to be doing and if you’re in a position of leadership and the people who should don’t take that hint, then you take it a step further. At that point I think it’s safe to say that the ground rules have been laid and you need to make the point more obvious.

Here’s the problem I have, I was at a restaurant eating a few weeks ago when I heard someone tell her child, “Do as I say not as I do”. Seriously. The person she was speaking to, obviously her daughter but a grown daughter at that so of course, I’m hoping she meant it in jest. You know how I feel about that take on life, “do as I say…” but I’m too good to follow my own rules. That’s bullshit.

The bosses I adored were the ones down there in the trenches with me. Bosses are supposed to lead by example, teach you what you need to know, coach you periodically and support you when you need it. But most importantly they can and will do your job if necessary and they can definitely tell you how to do it again if need be, though it’s not a favorable position to put yourself in.

Let’s just speak over what should be common sense rules for the workplace:

1. Keep cell phone use to a minimum if at all, it should be about your kids.
2. Show up ON TIME.
3. Do your job.
4. Stay off the internet, unless of course your job requires that you be on it.
5. Respect your boss and listen, they’re the boss, not you.
6. Don’t assume your boss is too stupid to notice your stall tactics.

Those are some of the most basic rules of the workplace and decency that come to me right off the bat. Feel free to add things…

Tags: boss, coach, common sense, decency, jest, job, leadership, stall tactics, trenches

Your Kids Education IS Important to You

Unless your child expresses ambition and drive from a very young age, your childs’ education IS important to you and the most compelling reason for this – you are not independently wealthy so you can’t afford lazy, uneducated kids. How do I know you’re not rich?

Rich people don’t read MouthyGirl. Chances are one out of every two of you reading this didn’t go to college, and if you did, you may not have gotten a degree. It is our job as parents to teach our children better than we know, guide them to lead a better life. How can you do that if you don’t start with their education?

If you don’t care about your kids’ education, they won’t either and the teacher can’t make them care, no matter how hard they try. What you’re left with is a child that is complacent about schoolwork, and not only school work – any hard work. Sure he might make the effort to pass just to keep from being held back, but the fundamentals aren’t there, nor is the work ethic that boss’s are looking for everywhere.

Why is this a problem? That child grows up with only a very basic skillset to get a job with and is competing with college graduates for jobs. Does that sound fair to you? For you and me, we can still get a job based on experience, selling ourselves and demonstrating what we know, our children will not be so lucky, at 30 I can tell you I have been passed up for many jobs because I don’t hold a degree, many of which I was capable of doing but didn’t have the degree to back me up. It is only going to get more difficult for people like me.

Being a parent means one thing first and foremost – IT AIN’T ALL ABOUT YOU ANYMORE. So why would you leave your child out their alone, with no one to care about their school work, work ethic, dreams and goals? I know it’s hard to be an active and attentive parent but believe me it’ll be worth it, before the dear hubby was around I was a single mom and even then I managed, so you have no excuse.

Are you involved in your kids’ school life?

Tags: ambition, better life, boss, childs education, college graduates, dear hubby, dreams, excuse, job, jobs, kids education, kids school, parents, schoolwork, single mom, skillset, stupid kids, work ethic