What Is the Best Resume Format? First, let’s talk about… Formatting Mistakes Note: Part of this I’ve taken from the formatting chapter in my book, No Mistakes Resumes.A lot of people pay no attention to the resume format, but that’s a huge mistake. Formatting deals with the readability of your resume, and that affects the…
Writing With Distractions I often read, with some degree of envy, about writers who are going off on a writing retreat. Leaving the world for a weekend or even a whole week, and taking their computer to a mountain hideaway, or a beach resort, or a cabin in the woods. “I just can’t focus at…
Interview Tips — Your Smile Is a Weapon You might be surprised when I tell you this, but your smile can be a powerful interview weapon. Yes, you heard me right — your smile. I know what you’re thinking. What about my experience? My accomplishments? Those are certainly important; they are what got you to…
Getting Ready For The Interview You’ve worked hard, perfected your resume, got through a phone screen, and now you’ve been invited for an onsite interview. The job you want is within your grasp — so don’t mess it up. Interviews are tricky, and interview preparation is really tricky. A lot of things can go wrong….
World’s Greatest Hamburger My brother will be surprised to know this post is about him — especially since it’s not a tribute to his death. How did this come about, you ask? I was reading a book and, about halfway through, the author described yet another character with superlatives. I thought about it and realized…
Living In The Shadows — The Fate of Secondary Characters I was watching a movie the other night that looked like it had promise. The first ten minutes got me interested and the main character was intriguing. And then I met the rest of the cast. With only one exception, they were dull, flat, cliched,…
There’s a Lot of Reasons… … why I’m writing this post, and the heading of this sentence is one of the primary ones. To a growing number of people, the phrase, “There’s a lot of reasons,” and others like it are okay. They’re acceptable. But to other people, in particular, resume screeners and gatekeepers ……
Decisions About Independent Publishing The best part about being an independent author is you get to make all the decisions yourself. Nobody tells you what to do. You decide on the story, the characters, pick your own book cover, hire your own editor, choose fonts, all of it. It’s a great, wonderful feeling. But there’s…
Responsibilities Dilute Your Message Responsibilities take up a huge part of most resumes, and that’s unfortunate. I say unfortunate because the space most people devote to responsibilities could be used much more effectively.If you have a compelling reason to list responsibilities, follow these few rules: Keep it simple. Keep it short. Keep it relevant. The…
The Fear of Writing Real Characters Writing strong, interesting characters is not easy. Many writers use real people, or combinations of real people, as the basis for their characters. Because they are, in essence, real people, readers relate to them. It’s no surprise then, that quite a few authors base their protagonists or at least…