gold | Journey

When you’re trying to catch a potential employer’s eye, your resume has to stand out from the crowd. It has to have something extra, a little bit of magic that no other resume has. But, sometimes magic is hard to come by, and it can be difficult to find ways to make your resume distinct. So, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here are seven tactics to add some luck to your job search.

Give Your Resume a Pinch
Less is more, so cut unnecessary content, eliminate meaningless phrases, and shape it to fit each job opening in order to get noticed.

Find the Pot o’ Gold with the Right Style
What you bring to the job is unique, which means you need to pick the resume style that best matches your work history, skills, and qualifications.

Show What You Have to Offer
Apply some eloquence to that meaningless objective statement and shift the focus to what you’ll bring to the job.

Make Your Competition Green With Envy
Your work history is the core of your resume, so make sure it’s strong and sculpted for the most attractive resume possible.

Treat Your References Like 4-Leaf Clovers
If you say “references available upon request” in your resume, make sure you have great references prepped and ready to vouch for you.

Follow the Rainbow to the Perfect Format
Do your research to ensure you know which electronic resume format – Word or PDF – works best for you and the job opening.

Check for Overlooked Shamrocks
Hiring managers expect a resume to contain certain elements, so give it one final look to ensure nothing’s missing.

Getting lucky in your job search starts with taking the time to fix up your resume so it can work it’s magic. After all, employers will never know what an amazing job candidate you are if your resume doesn’t grab their attention.

What have you done to make your resume stand out? Share your own tips for building a golden resume in the comments section below.

Do you have aspirations of getting a better job or growing your career? Watching the Olympics could help. Every time the Olympic Games roll around, I enjoy watching different athletes from across the world compete, and I anticipate seeing my favorite athletes win gold. This year, that was not the case for one of my favorite sports to watch: snowboarding. But instead of turning off the TV as soon as I realized my favorite snowboarder and two-time gold medalist, Shaun White, wasn’t going to place, I decided to stay tuned in to see who won. Here are some of the lessons I learned.

Get Back Up and Don’t Give Up

It’s a tough fact of life to learn; you don’t always win, no matter how hard you try or how far in advance you prepare. That fact was made evident during the final halfpipe competition in Sochi. While watching the Olympics, I was reminded that no matter how much a professional athlete prepares, they may not win, but that doesn’t mean they give up. Soon after the halfpipe competition was over, Shaun was interviewed and asked what happened. Instead of blaming it on the snow or the conditions, he said he’d be back next time and he was happy for the guys who did well! What a great attitude to have! We can learn so much from that statement itself. Just because you haven’t landed a job or moved up in your company as fast as you’d like, it doesn’t mean you need to give up or stop trying. The agony of defeat is never easy to handle, but getting back up, working hard, and trying again will help improve your skills and chances of getting that new job or promotion you’ve been looking for.

Learn from Your Mistakes

Unfortunately, making mistakes is a normal part of life. Failure even happens to the best of the best. What’s important to learn from Olympic winners and even those who won’t be taking home a medal is that these athletes don’t let mistakes defeat them. In fact, you’ll probably see many of the same athletes in four years at the next Winter Olympics. It’s important to learn from your mistakes, make the corrections that are needed, and use those lessons to help shape your future. If you’ve been looking for a new job for a while or if you’re ready to go to the next level in your current job, take a look back at what has been slowing you down in the past or getting you off track and work to take care of those mistakes so you won’t drag that baggage with you to the next level. Also, seek feedback from co-workers or friends and make necessary changes.

What are some lessons you’ve learned from the Olympics? Share with us in the comments section below!

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