Resume Tips & Tricks

By: Ashley Vickney, Intern, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

Job searching can be brutal, between searching job boards and tailoring cover letters it can be time consuming. One way to get noticed is to have an effective resume. Here are some of the best resume tips that I’ve used in my job search to help you land an interview!

Make it skimmable: Don’t have paragraphs on your resume. Have easy, one to two line bullet points of your duties and projects at jobs. The easier it is to read, the more likely it is to get read.

Stand out, quietly: Depending on your industry, resumes don’t need to stick to the traditional set up, but instead can be designed in a way that is easy to read. Check out some beautifully designed and free resume templates here. 

Leave off the objective statement: These aren’t really necessary anymore, and waste space that could be used for more experience or skills.

Reverse chronological order: List your most recent, relevant experience first. Make it easy for the hiring manager to track your employment history. 

Add volunteer experience: Little extra room on your resume? Add one or two causes you’ve volunteered for and are passionate about. It shows potential employers that you like to give back, and is a great conversation starter. 

Is it important? Every bullet point on your resume should make you look confident and competent. Double check to make sure your bullet points are clear, concise and demonstrate what you did. 

Proofread, proofread, proofread and proofread again: Have a couple people look over your resume for any spelling errors or mistakes. Be sure to proofread every resume you send out!

With these suggestions your resume should stand out from the crowd and get your foot in the door. 

Any other suggestions? What do you look for in a resume?

Phubbing is a BIG DEAL

By: Susan Finco, President, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

So, one of the new words being bantered about these days is phubbing. For those not up on the latest lingo (I hadn’t heard of this word until a few weeks ago), it means phone snubbing. As in, “I was in the middle of a conversation with a coworker and they picked up their phone and starting checking it.” It can apply to any social situation.

If you’re in the midst of conversation, it’s not OK to “check out” for a few moments while you “check in” with your phone. It’s one thing to say to someone, “please excuse me if my phone goes off, but my child hasn’t been feeling well and the school might call/text/email me to pick her up,” and quite another to be at a meeting, eating dinner with, talking with, or collaboratively working with someone and having them – in the middle of the interaction – simply look down as if it’s no big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL in more ways than you might imagine.

A recent study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that phubbing leads to unhappy and dissatisfied employees, co-workers, friends and spouses. It’s detrimental to our relationships; and the world is still all about relationships. We love to multi-task, and we all think we’re good at it but, the truth of the matter is (as this study shows), when you’re interacting with someone and you’re also checking your phone, you are signaling in a very direct way that you aren’t interested in the person you’re interacting with or what they’re saying; you just don’t care enough to give them your full attention. So the simple cure for the phubbing epidemic is to put the people in your life first (the ones that are directly in front of you) and the phone in your life second. Makes sense to me, and now when someone says they can do both things at once, there’s proof it doesn’t work!

Don’t wait, plan ahead and have a successful 2016

By: Cole Buergi, VP of Business Development, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

Seems weird to write this but the year 2016 is just 10 weeks away. That’s only about 50 working days to develop your marketing and PR plan to promote your business for all of next year. If you haven’t starting thinking about it, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time.
 
However, don’t put it off much longer. Now is the time to start developing the plan to determine how you want to position your business in the coming year.

Items to consider include:

• What product or service are you selling?
• Who are your customers?
• What’s your target market?
• Who are your competitors?
• What media outlets should you us to reach them?

These are just a few of the high level items marketing/PR professionals should be considering as they develop their plan. As you develop your plan, it’s important to understand that it needs to have flexibility. New opportunities can arise at a moment’s notice and you need to adapt and take advantage of them. Conversely, new threats from competitors can also arise and you need the flexibility to react.

If you’re unsure on how to create a marketing/PR plan for your business, consult with an expert. They can provide the expertise to ensure you’re on track for successful 2016.

Happy New Year!  Err, ok, it’s too early for that, but……