I Want to Break Free

My apologies for a nearly one-month hiatus.  During the past few weeks a few things have happened that have put me into a “I Want to Break Free” sort of mood.  [I have been listening to this song on repeat now for the last week!]

To start, after my last blog post, my city flooded.  Fortunately, my parents’ home is on the top of a hill and it remains untouched by excessively large pools of water but the power went out, water rations went on and my dear friends’ homes were practically destroyed.  I have spent quite a large amount of my free time trying to help everyone get their lives back together.

Secondly, the management team of the facility where I run the Aquatics department, graciously invited all recreational groups, whose home facilities were destroyed in the floods, to use the pool free of charge.  Unfortunately, as they opened the front doors to these new bookings and user groups, they themselves walked out the back door in order to escape the overpopulated facility and thereby left me to deal with the aftermath.

Lastly, someone I had become accustomed to seeing on a fairly regular basis, was murdered in her home a few days ago.  Quite a shock to my system, for sure.

After all of this, amidst car problems, attempting to move my grandparents from their house into a lodge and the regular every day inconveniences, I feel as if it has been the longest three weeks of my life.  When negative situations happen around me (no matter how uncontrollable) I like to think that removing myself is a suitable option.

I have been quite impulsive lately and so my solution is to move off to a new place and to really enjoy the ride there!  I have never lived anywhere except Western Canada and so I am off to Eastern Canada.  I will be stopping in Saskatchewan to visit old University friends and to see some of the major cities.  [Maybe bond with some cattle and other farm-folk.]   On my travels, I shall be joining a Ride Share program which is basically the modern day version of hitchhiking, except I can ‘virtually’ meet my riding companions before hand and agree upon a fee!  Half the cost of gas?  Whoopee!  The cheaper, the better.  I always say!

Then it is off to Manitoba to take the Via Rail on a very long, 40 hour train ride, to Churchill.  I do not know if I will see Polar Bears but I will definitely kayak with the Beluga Whales and possibly do some bird-watching.  I truly enjoy seeing animals in their undisturbed natural habitats.

Next on my travel list will be to cruise on through the United States to check out some of the major Eastern-central cities like Minneapolis, Chicago and hopefully Buffalo.  Upon my return to Canada, I shall finally see the beautiful Niagara Falls.  Fingers crossed that it is as majestic as the Tourism Marketing has led me to believe.  I might visit some more friends in Hamilton, maybe milk some Maple Sap from tree and reduce it to delicious Maple Syrup.  Eventually, I will find a good hostel to temporarily call home while I search for a job in Toronto or the GTA as well as a look for a place to live.

It will be quite an adventure, which is exactly what I need!  I am so looking forward to it but time is passing far too slow.  It does give me time to condense and pack up my life into the trunk of my car.  11 days… GO!

Stay Limitless,

Molly

Molly’s Resume How-to: The Preparation Period

Recently, I realized that I was relying entirely on the internet for information and guidance on writing my resume and cover letter.  Every single question or stall in the process, there I was googling an answer.  The problem?  Every single person has a different opinion on how to create a resume and they always include a hearty amount of “Do’s” and “Dont’s”.  I am certain that I have read ALL of these blog posts, opinion columns and “Ask the Recruiter” websites.  Also, I rounded out my readings with more than a few visits to my University’s Student Career office and the local Rapid Resume Review sessions.  Finally, I have decided that with the creation of my 50th resume this year (a milestone, obviously) I have now reached Resume How-to Pro Status.  What follows is my own method, in detail, for writing a resume.

Preparation

Every job posting will typically list the Job Description, Responsibilities, Requirements/Qualifications and a small miscellaneous information section, that might include Salary, Working conditions or Benefits.  First off, find a job that you like where you meet the majority of the qualifications and I will show you how to satisfy the rest

The Qualifications will list a number of things.

1. Personal Qualities/Strengths:

– The company expects you to have these qualities and strengths because they are important for the position and they fit the company’s culture.

– If you believe you have a quality listed, then think of an experience or situation in which you developed or demonstrated this quality and then write it down.

2. Educational Background:

– Degrees, diplomas, seminars, colloquiums, certifications, courses, lectures, online course and self/independent study.

– If they ask for a specific educative background (that you do not have) and it is not followed with “or a related field” or “or an equivalent combination of education and experience”, then you may need to reconsider if you are qualified enough for the position.

– I do not like to follow the “fake it till you make it” mantra so if there is a job that you are extremely passionate about and you do not want to give up on it but you are not exactly qualified for it, then find out what would make you qualified.  If you have the time before the deadline, then read up on the topics and learn what you can, this is known as “Self/Independent Study”.  I would not suggest listing it on your resume but feel free to casually mention it in your overview or cover letter.

– It is also possible to search for seminars, colloquiums, lectures or even webcasts that will provide information pertinent to the job you are applying.  You could list these items under Professional Development and describe how the information you attained can be applied to the desired position.

– If there is a lot of time before you must apply, investigate the online courses available.  There are a lot of free certification courses that you can take online with Ivy League schools and you can find these courses at www.edx.org or you can google search, “Open Courseware” or “Open Learning Initiative” for specific schools that you are interested in.  These courses can be a great way to get some extra education without having to fork out the money and the bonus is that you will get a certificate with your name on it as well as the name of a fancy school.

3. Experience:

– Your experiences cannot be faked but you have probably been confronted with situations that you may have previously deemed insignificant while they are actually quite applicable to this position.  Thus, after reading through the experiences necessary, dig deep for specific experiences.  If it requires experience over a specific length of time, remember that it does not have to be a single, continuous experience.  It can be accumulated experience over three, six or 12 months or even longer.

– Keep in mind that the length of your experience can show stability and focus.  Listing a number of one month commitments can indicate an inability to stick with one task unless you can explain or prove that the project was only short term.

When you have found a job, look at the Qualifications section and categorize it into three sections: Experience (X), Personal Qualities/Strengths (P) and Education (ED).  I have done this below with a Program Assistant, Development position I found on the Canadian Red Cross website.  As you can see I have delegated the information into one of the three sections.

I am not particularly qualified for this position as my education was heavily math and physics based.  However, if I really wanted to apply to it, this is how I would use my experiences, education and general knowledge so that I satisfy all of the qualifications.

Education:

• Coursework in Political Sciences and International Relations: completed courses in Canadian Economy and Politics, Global Relations, Canadian Crime and Punishment and the Justice System.
• Professional Development: Project Development Workshop, member of my University Social Justice group.
• Skilled in numerous computer systems and associated software.
  • Windows: Microsoft Office Suite; prepared and evaluated scientific information using excel, prepared reports with Word and produced presentations using Power Point.
  • Mac: Experienced with all iWorks software programs.
  • Ability to create dynamic presentations with Prezi
• Fluent in both oral and written English communication.  Ability to read, speak and write at an intermediate level in Spanish; four semesters of University Spanish.  Able to speak conversational French.

Experience

• Completed a three month project to develop a Swimming Program for children with unidentified development disorders.
• Two years maintaining and improving procedures in an aquatic facility in order to effectively manage aquatic program information
• One year as a Farmers’ Market Coordinator, developing and maintaining a budget and keeping Market projects organized and on task.
• Canadian Citizen since birth

Personal Qualities/Strengths

• Ability to manage a fast-paced, dynamic aquatic environment as a Shift Supervisor.
• Capable of learning on the job and producing quality work with timely results.
• Strong interest in socio-cultural and economic sustainability demonstrated by my commitments to the University’s Student Sustainability Service and Office of Sustainability.

I suggest that you write it down as I have shown above, this will help to keep your resume focused.  You NEED to show that you meet the qualifications or else the recruiter or recruiting program will not give your resume the attention it deserves.

This is definitely the first step to creating a rocking resume.  I know from experience that after the 20th resume, this will get to be very easy and almost second nature.  I am not saying that my way is the best but I have had A LOT of interviews for positions that most would think I am under-qualified.

Stay Limitless,

Molly