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Cut the Fat In Your Resume

ManHandingOverResumeChances are if you wrote out your 2014 resolutions, “cut down,” “trim,” or “shape up” appeared somewhere, in some form or another on your list. Most people apply those words and phrases to bodily health, but they are also great concepts you should be applying to your resume this year! With the high number of resumes hiring managers receive every day, it’s vital to your job search that you shape up your resume so you’ll get more than just a first glance.

Less is usually more, and in the realm of resumes you want less fluff and more differentiating information. As stated in a Forbes article, “Every word—yes, every word—on that page should be working hard to highlight your talents and skills. If it’s not, it shouldn’t be on there.” So, trim the sugar-coating off your resume and consider these tips.

Slim Down
If the average hiring manager looks at a resume for a minute before deciding whether to keep it or discard it, then you want yours to be as pleasing to the eye as possible. While this involves using the proper layout, font, and text size, it also means you need to keep it focused and cut out unnecessary parts. Yahoo Small Business recommends deleting such areas as the career objective, previous salaries, and that famous final line “References available upon request.” The article also pointed out that “a general rule of thumb is to include employment history dating back 10 years. If you have anything relevant to include beyond this, you can list it under “additional experience,” but only include the company, years, and job title.

Tone Up
Your resume should convey the maximum amount of relevant information in the most compact way possible. That means you need to tighten up your language and avoid certain words. “The average resume is chock-full of sorely outdated, essentially meaningless phrases that take up valuable space on the page,” as detailed in the Forbes article. “Eliminate them, and you’ll come off as a better, more substantial candidate.” Some of the top phrases to cut include experienced, team-player, people-person, energetic, seasoned, well-versed, and dynamic.

Be Flexible
Even once you’ve done all this cutting out and trimming up of your resume, your work still isn’t finished. Every time you apply for a different job, you need to tweak and sculpt your resume to fit the position and company. Highlighting your skills and experiences that align with what the employer is looking for is how you will stand out from the crowd. You’re not changing your work history or misrepresenting yourself – you’re simply showing how things you’ve done in the past relate to this particular job opportunity.

Set the Example

It’s safe to say that everyone is tired of this economy. And, many of today’s workers are feeling the strain because of increased workloads, longer work hours, and decreased salaries. It’s no wonder everyone doesn’t always have the greatest attitude, right?

Although you can’t control how your co-workers feel or act every day, you’re in control of your own feelings and actions. YOU can be the example you want to see in the office. You can take the initiative to make your overall office environment better and be a good example for your fellow colleagues. How? Here are a few acts of kindness you can do around the office to help relieve tension and make the day a little brighter. And, the best thing about this is you don’t have to be in a leadership position to do this. Anyone can do this.

Send a word of praise. For this, buy a greeting card. You can write a kind note on it about someone you work with, telling them such things as they did a great job on a certain project, tell the funniest jokes, are a great cook, have a wonderful fashion sense, etc. This is just a little way of letting that person know you’re glad to be their co-worker. Then, present them with the card! After that, the person who received the card has to keep the good times going by writing another positive note to another teammate and presenting it to them.

Recognize the “Stars of the Week.” Every Friday, recognize a few individuals you feel have done a great job for the week. Each week, you can recognize different individuals until everyone has been recognized for something. Include in the e-mail why you’ve recognized them for the “star” award, and if it’s OK with management, send the e-mail to everyone on your team so they can check it out. If you want, you can also award small prizes.

Find out how things are going. Find out how your teammates are doing. What are their interests, how is their family doing, do they plans for the weekend? Make it a point to just chat with them and get to know them. If they don’t want to share information with you, that’s OK too. But, at least you made an effort to learn more about them and that will mean something to them.

Get away from the office for lunch. Plan a lunch outing for you and your co-workers. Take a vote on where everyone wants to eat, and go there for your ENTIRE lunch hour. It’s important to use your break to relax. Make it a rule for the outing that no one can talk about work during lunch.

Potluck, anyone? Everyone likes food, so why not have a potluck one Friday? You could either do a breakfast or lunch potluck. This is a cost effective choice instead of everyone going to a restaurant to eat.

Bring cupcakes, just because. Surprise everyone on your team with cupcakes just to help brighten their day.

Start a book club. Despite the economy, you and your teammates still have an opportunity to learn and advance your skills within your current job roles. Purchase books on leadership and strengths development and start a weekly book club. This gives you a chance to get to know each other more and grow your knowledge and skills.

These are just as few examples of things you can do to help create a more positive work environment and help generate some happiness. Do you have other ideas of things to do around the office to increase morale? We want to know!