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How To Strengthen Your Resume

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:07:45 +0000

A resume is a condensed format of personal achievements and qualifications. It is the initial communication with a potential employer. A good resume is the first step in identifying and pursuing a career opportunity. The most important consideration when drafting a resume is to determine whether it will create the desired impression on a recruiter, enough for him to schedule an interview.
A resume is essentially a mode of communication between the candidate and the employer. It is expected to effectively communicate the candidate’s achievements and strengths. The resume should be planned and documented in such a way that it highlights every important detail that is relevant to the job at hand. It should make available, at a glance, a complete picture of the candidate and the special skills and abilities he has to offer the organization.
Differentiate Yourself
There is a difference between a resume for a sales job and one for a management position. In order to make the resume effective, the candidate should highlight his areas of interest, achievements, skills and abilities, in line with the job being applied for. While a salesperson should emphasize sales volume and targets achieved, an academic should emphasize his academic achievements and special honors received. The abilities and special achievements should be highlighted in a way that the candidate’s profile and the job requirements match perfectly.
Making An Impression
The most significant part of a resume is the top quarter. This part offers details on the identity of the candidate and his professional qualifications at a glance. A powerful headline helps in defining and distinguishing a candidate from others. The headline should be followed by information on special skills and expertise that makes him suitable for that particular position. The headline and details should be job specific and easily modified. The personal details furnished should be complete, leaving no room for a lapse in communication if you are chosen for the job.
Market Yourself
Marketing yourself and selling your ability to execute the duties assigned to the best of your ability is very important and should be kept in mind while drafting the resume. A candidate should be able to promote himself. After highlighting the academic and other achievements, you should sell personal achievements that distinguish you from the other contenders. Your efforts that highlight the leadership qualities in you should be mentioned. Knowledge of regional or foreign languages adds value, especially if the job involves national or overseas travel.
The Last Opportunity
The cover letter is an opportunity to impress the employer with your writing skills. The cover letter should be drafted in a way that it markets your abilities and suitability for the position. It should be a sincere effort to offer your services to the organization and should provide a brief snapshot of what you have to offer.
Your resume provides you with an opportunity for an interview with the employer. You should address your resume, complete with a cover letter, to a particular person rather than just a department. This ensures that the resume reaches the person in charge of recruiting, rather than in the in-box of a department. It is also the safest way of making sure that the resume and enclosed photocopies, if any, are not misplaced.

Ten Quick Steps To A Great Resume

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:00:34 +0000

Depending on how your resume looks, hiring managers will either be turned off or want to meet you. A resume is usually their first contact with you. A great resume will give a strong first impression.
1. Having a three to five sentence summary at the top of your resume is much more effective than having an objective. You can use the career summary to sum up your skills and experiences. For example: “Supply chain manager with global experience in leadership, implementation, and project management. Skilled in…” Let them know up front who you are and what position you’re seeking.
2. Do you have several years of work experience? Move the Education section to the end (after the Experience section) so that you can showcase your work experience. (If you are preparing a resume for academia or research, then follow the resume formatting rules for your profession.)
3. Create a text version of your resume for posting online. That way if you post your MS Word resume and the formatting is lost, you won’t have to waste time reformatting your resume.
4. Check job ads for the types of jobs you’re applying for. See what keywords they use in their job descriptions and include those keywords in your resume. If the company uses software to scan resumes for keywords, you’ll ensure your resume won’t be screened out before it gets to a hiring manager. This is where the summary really comes in handy. You can add those keywords to the summary and increase your chances of having your resume selected.
5. When preparing your resume, use action words such as “leveraged,” “led,” “coordinated,” “managed,” etc. Words like, “participated” give the impression that you were on the sidelines, and not actively involved in the project. Don’t just say you were responsible, show the results. Were there any cost savings for the company? Mention them. Was your project completed ahead of schedule? Say so. Did your project lead to increased efficiency? Show the percentages.
6. When describing your current and past positions, only list the strongest accomplishments – the ones that will make a prospective employer contact you for an interview. Don’t include every function you performed on the job. Consider what accomplishments you would be looking for if you were the hiring manager, and what responsibilities show that you can handle the duties of the position you’re seeking.
7. Your resume should not include positions you held more than 10 years ago, unless they are relevant to the position you’re looking for now.
8. Keep it simple. Three pages maximum for management or executive resumes; two pages for all other resumes for corporate positions.
9. Don’t forget to check spelling and grammar. Saying you were the “lead” on a project is different than saying that you “led” the project. For grammar and word choices, do a search to find sites on the web that will answer your questions about grammar and punctuation.
10. Create different versions of your resume if you’re searching for more than one type of position. For example, you may want to apply for Business Analyst and Technical Writer positions. In one version of your resume you can include accomplishments and skills that relate more to being a B.A. In another version you can include accomplishments (and publications) relating to your experiences as a Technical Writer.
Copyright © 2007 Deborah A. Bailey, Writing Services Central, LLC

The Pitfalls of Unsolicited Resumes

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:08:06 +0000

Your mind is set on a company and a position that you want. This could be your dream job, but the company is not hiring. Before crossing your fingers and submitting your resume, consider the some of the risks that accompany your unsolicited resume. Your initiative in pursuing your dream job may actually sabotage your employment search.Unsolicited resumes are those received by a company when no employment openings are available. These resumes carry some baggage that will not benefit you in the job search. Despite your best intentions, an unsolicited resume has little chance of landing you an interview. Unsolicited resumes carry some stigma for a number of good reasons, but we limit this discussion to three.1. Unsolicited resumes are an irritant to Human Resource personnel when the company is not hiring. The HR staff has a multitude of duties aside from those related to hiring. They will not spend time examining resumes for positions when the company is not seeking employees.

2. These resumes are seldom read, but go straight into a file for a specified period of time before finding their way into the shredder and finally the recycle bin. When the company is hiring, H.R. will begin from a pool of current resumes rather than from a file of stale unsolicited documents. Unlike wine, your resume does not improve with age.

3. Calling the HR office to follow-up on your unsolicited resume may tag you as a “stalker.” This slang refers to unwanted calls from individuals seeking employment when the firm is not hiring. These people are in effect, “stalking” the company while waiting for an opportunity that does not exist. You may feel that you are showing tenacity in seeking employment. It is much more likely you are alienating yourself from those in the hiring process.If you have been searching for some time, you may begin to feel frustrated and perhaps a little desperate. It is natural to feel that way and many people have experienced those feelings. But, do not allow your feelings to provoke you into rashly submitting a batch of unsolicited resumes. This practice is unproductive and will set you up to feel worse when your “shotgun” approach fails to produce calls from excited hiring managers eager to schedule an interview.

Landing the right position requires strategy, timing, skill, and a little bit of luck never hurts. But, those who properly prepare often make their own luck and that is your goal. Map out an effective job search strategy that will work for you and your circumstances. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but there are effective job search strategies that will work for you. Develop your job search strategy and you are going in the right direction.

Career Change – Understanding your Worth and Value

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:08:31 +0000

Asimo is a robot made by Honda and currently working for IBM Japan. ASIMO works as a receptionist for IBM. He greets guests and shows them around the building. Asimo’s gets paid $150,000 a year (Yearly lease for ASIMO) Compared to the salary of a human receptionist – $35,000. To perform these duties, ASIMO has to be specially programmed to know the layout of the buildings and the appropriate way to greet visitors and answer questions.

What about You!

I recently saw a documentary about a lady that could not smile because of a birth defect. It cost her $70,000 to surgically have a smile created for her. It’s close to the real thing but it’s still not the real thing. Knowing the value of a rolex watch, how much would you pay for a fake rolex. Now try smiling. Easy? That’s priceless but an artificial one would cost you $70,000.

Try squeezing your hand, pick up your pen, throw your pen a varied speeds, pick your ear, play with your hand, do what you wish. Asimo couldn’t even do a tenth of what you are doing, yet it is paid a salary of $150,000 dollars. Asimo is a fake version of you. No where near the real thing.

You are priceless and Asimo is worthless compared to what you can do.

Yet it gets paid more than most!

Why?

People will only see you as you see yourself! My father always told me; “If you sell yourself cheap during the day, don’t expect to increase the price at night, for you will not find a buyer” You are fearfully & wonderfully made, you probably have been nurtured and cared for by loving parents who in their own rights are priceless. You don’t have to be programmed to know the layout of a building, greet visitors and answer questions. You are not made by man but uniquely created and fashioned to invent, innovate, discover, adapt and rule.

Dr, Micheal Denton clearly states – the cosmos (universe) is specially designed whole with life and mankind as its fundamental goal and purpose. Cosmos – The universe regarded as an orderly, harmonious whole. In simple words, The world has been created specifically for you!

Trees have a purpose, gold has a purpose, water has a purpose, salt has a purpose, even micro-organisms have a purpose. What more of you? You are the most intelligent being of all creation – One that wills thoughts to action, one with feelings, emotions, a soul and a mind to invent, learn, discover, communicate, build and rule.

The more physicist, biologists and scientist learn about the universe the more they realise it has been created custom made for human existence. For you are made with love in mind – Psalmist

If the world has been built with you in mind, why settle for anything less. Asimo is a product of your your neighbours invention and how much is it worth?

The question I need to ask you is this:

How do you see yourself?

The most valuable things in life are not things but people. You and I.

Celebrate and value yourself daily and everyone else will treat you the same way.

www.careerinsights.tv

Professional Resume Writing Services: The Ugly (Part III)

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:08:31 +0000

This article represents my third installment of a three-part series on professional resume-writing services. The first part dealt with the “good” aspects of the industry and the myriad ways that resume writers have benefited both job seekers as well as hiring managers and recruiters. The second part focused on some of the “bad” or negative issues that plague the industry and how both resume writers and job seekers can overcome them.
In this discussion, I will focus on the “ugly” parts of the resume-writing industry, looking at how a few bad apples have caused job seekers and industry analysts to question the legitimacy of the industry as a whole.
As a resume writer myself, here are some of the worst issues that I have to face when addressing concerns from worried job seekers who, understandably, don’t want to make a poor investment:
1.Overselling the product. I’ll be honest. This issue drives me crazy even though I grasp perfectly how it happens. Selling a resume, particularly online, like most Internet services is based 80% on pure emotion. Sure, the job seeker needs a resume and starts looking for a writer. But job seeking and resume preparation are emotional things, no matter whether you are currently employed, recently laid off, looking to change careers, or re-entering the workforce. Everyone is nervous. So, resume writers naturally often end up being part writer and part counselor to their clients. That in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; however, on the sales side, sometimes it can lead to “selling the farm” as a way of soothing the fears of potential clients and getting them to put their trust in your services.
The biggest way that happens is by making promises or guarantees that no writer can be 100% sure of. The second way is by misrepresenting the role of the resume. A resume does NOT get you a job. You do! A resume is a tool. And like any tool, the more well made it is, the better results it will produce for the hand that wields it.
Although the resume-writing industry has done remarkably well at selling job seekers on the need for a well-made resume, it has not done so well at also selling them on the idea that they need to learn how to use it. Most job seekers lack proficient job hunting skills, thinking that a flashy resume and the Internet are all they need.
I look at it this way: I want to make a cabinet, so I buy the nicest saw there is. I can read all the product instructions. Peruse consumer reports. Watch demos. But unless I learn how to actually use my fantastic saw, chances are my cabinet will either not get made or turn out poorly. Why? Because I expected the saw to do all the work. Listen. Everyone wants the dream job, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to land it. Many expect the resume to do all the work.
2.Using tactics that disparage other writers. It has become common practice with many resume-writing services, especially large ones, to offer free resume critiques to potential clients. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this practice and is often useful to job seekers as a way to test out the communication and expertise of a firm. The problem comes when these firms are so desperate for a sale that they take to tearing apart the work of other professional writers. It’s usually pretty obvious to anyone with resume-writing experience when a resume has been professionally done. Certainly the person performing a critique is well within his or her rights to offer up suggestions and recommendations, but knowingly trashing another professional’s work in order to make a sale is unethical and a disservice to the job seeker.
3.Job seekers who get in the way. One of the biggest obstacles to resume writers is the fact that many candidates think they know something about preparing resumes. They’ve read up on it. They’ve spoken to their colleagues. They fancy themselves as grammarians. Now I am in no way insinuating that job seekers shouldn’t ask lots of questions or become knowledgeable on the subject. But please don’t hire a professional to write your document and then proceed to argue with everything he or she does. I’ve seen many resume writers reduced down to nothing more than typists.
Recognize the fact that like other professional services you may employ, you do so because it is not your full-time job and you are not an expert. If you want to get the most out of your resume-writing service, don’t just get a resume, take advantage of the expert advice of your writer.

Why The Best Cover Letter Must Accompany The Best Resume, If You Want The Job

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:09:10 +0000

How important is the cover letter (letter of introduction) that accompanies your resume? It’s possible that you have the very best written resume in the world and be the very best candidate for the job, but if your cover letter is poorly written, you can pretty much throw your chances out the window. The cover letter is your first, and sometimes your only opportunity to grab an employer’s attention and let them know why your resume is worth reading. Remember – you have only a few seconds to grab that hiring person’s attention or you are just another resume to them.

Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., of Quintessential Careers says “A resume is useless to an employer if he or she doesn’t know what kind of work you want to do. A cover letter tells the employer the type of position you’re seeking — and exactly how you are qualified for that position”.

According to the Career Services division of Virginia Tech the basic rules of writing a cover letter are:

1. Explain why you are sending a resume.

2. Don’t send a resume without a cover letter.

3. Don’t make the reader guess what you are asking for; be specific: Do you want a summer internship opportunity, or a permanent position at graduation.

Tell specifically how you learned about the position or the organization — a web site, a family friend who works at the company. It is appropriate to mention the name of someone who suggested that you write. Convince the reader to look at your resume.

5. But be brief and to the point. Your cover letter should be one page in length and perfectly centered. The cover letter and resume are never folded. They are placed in an envelope large enough to accommodate them unfolded.

Katharine Hansen further points out: A cover letter can serve the same function as the “job objective” on your resume, and expand upon it. Some applicants are reluctant to limit themselves by putting an objective on their resume. Although it is best for a job-seeker to target the type of work desired as specifically as possible, you may be open to more than one option.

Finally, a cover letter is a little window into your personality. A good cover letter can suggest to an employer, “I’d like to interview this person; she sounds like someone I’d like to get to know better. This seems like just the kind of dynamic person this company needs.”

If this sounds like something you are not sure you can do well may we suggest that you visit our website. We offer lots of help not only for cover letters, but the follow up letters also after the interview and of course the best resume. We will show you how to write the best resume and if you still are unsure direct you to the absolute best professional resume writers in the industry. In many cases having a professional writer do your resume is the best investment you can make.

Professional Resume Writing Services: The Good (Part I)

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:15:14 +0000

Before I begin, let me start by saying that I happen to be a certified professional resume writer (CPRW) and job search coach. I’ve been writing resumes since 2002, both for myself as well as for larger resume writing firms. Before that, I was a hiring manager for a large truck rental firm, running a 150-person call center. So I have had the opportunity to be on both sides of the job search process, representing the employer and representing the job seeker.
Professional resume writing in itself is a relatively new industry. If you look hard enough, you can find some writers out there who have 25 years (or slightly more) experience under their belt. But by and large, the bulk of writers out there have 10 years or less, with new writing services popping up daily. The reason is that the growth of the Internet as a business tool as well as the willingness of more and more professionals to invest in resume services has blossomed over the last decade, causing more people to consider resume writing as a full-time career.
As a result, the amount of press regarding the industry as a whole has started to increase. And, unfortunately, a lot of it has grown more and more negative. My goal here is to provide an insider’s view and get to the real deal behind those professional resume writing services. This first article will focus on the positives behind resume-writing services. I will be following up this article with two more segments (the Bad and the Ugly).
The Good
Let’s start out with some of the positives about resume writing that often seem to get overlooked.
1. Without a doubt, the quality of resumes has certainly increased thanks to the influx of people purchasing professional services. And hiring managers are now seeing better quality documents come across their desks. Instead of simply writing professional obituaries, candidates can now produce targeted resumes that seek to marry the needs of the employer with the skills of the candidate.
2. Writing your own resume is a difficult task. It’s somewhat like doing your own taxes. You certainly can try and figure it out. You can buy the software and read through the myriad directions. You can devote the time and muddle your way through. But at the end of the day, you are still no tax expert. And you submit your taxes on a wing and a prayer.
When constructing a resume, you are marketing a product, and that product is YOU! It’s tough to look beyond yourself, understand the wants of your target market, and produce a well-written, quality document that appeals to your target market. Too many job seekers look for resumes that appeal to them and care very little about the audience they are trying to reach. A resume writer can help you take an objective look at yourself, sift through strengths and weakness, and understand what an employer in your industry is looking for.
3. The industry is filled with many sincere, high-quality writers who bring corporate, communications, and recruiting experience to the table. Most candidates get more than just a resume; they also get loads of job search advice. Are there bad apples? Of course, and my next article (Professional Resume Writing Services: The Bad) will focus on why that is. But overall, what drives most people to the industry is the desire to help others. Certainly resume writers want to make money (don’t we all?), and they want to have thriving businesses, but they also want to see clients succeed.
4. Although the cost of purchasing a resume writing service has increased, it is still a relatively small investment. Of course, shelling out a few hundred bucks when you are unemployed seems like a lot. But this is your career we are talking about, after all. And first impressions do still matter.
5. The industry does have a way for job seekers to sift through the plethora of services out there. Most job seekers are unaware that there are organizations out there who offer certification testing for the resume writing field. One of them, the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) offers the CPRW exam, which requires individuals to undergo a testing process that includes a review of their work by their peers.

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:15:29 +0000

Whether or not you’re planning to look for a new job, it’s best to keep your resume updated. Get into the habit of updating your accomplishments and skills so that your resume is always ready.
Here are some tips:
- Group your top skill sets into a summary.
- Create a professional email address (using your name – no nicknames) to include with your contact information.
- Use past tense – even when describing your current job.
- If you’re posting your resume online, don’t encourage identity theft by including too much personal information.
- Gear you resume towards the job you want, not the one you have now.
- List your most recent job first.
- Check spelling and grammar – don’t depend on your spelling errors being caught by spell check.
Your resume should not include every task you’ve performed in every position; instead it should only include your strongest accomplishments. Though it’s tempting to all the details about every job you’ve had, your resume is only a starting point. Use it to get your foot in the door so that you can get an interview. Once you have an opportunity to speak with the hiring manager, then you can go into more detail.
Since you have to catch the attention of the reader right away, stay away from passive-sounding words when describing your accomplishments and responsibilities. Passive sentences are indirect and don’t make much of an impression.
Look at this example of a passive sentence: “Participated on product development team.” Compare that with this example of an active sentence: “Created scripts and tested new product.”
In addition to using active words and sentences in your descriptions, you also have to show results. Which description would appeal to you as a hiring manager?
“Arranged new product development meetings,” or “Facilitated meetings for new product development team which led to cost savings due to reduced miscommunication between departments.”
If you are a freelancer or temp worker, you’ll probably work for various companies and hold different positions. Even if you had different titles, the skills and accomplishments will show your versatility in different industries and company cultures.
Keep track of the projects you’ve worked on, articles and documentation you’ve written, etc. Set aside samples of your work so that you can include them with your resume, if requested.
When you’re changing careers playing up your skills is very important. You may not have direct experience in the area you’re changing to, but you can show how the skills you’ve acquired in the old career can be carried over to the new one. Pick accomplishments that show that you are versatile and can think out of the box. Play up training and learning experiences to show that you can adapt to new environments. The person reading your resume is focused on finding the right person for the job. They won’t have the time to think about how to fit your skills into their requirements.
Not sure how to show that your skills can be transferred to a new profession? For instance, if you’re a project manager and you want to become an event planner, you could play up your organization skills or your communications skills. You could also play up your ability to simultaneously manage different tasks. Look at the work you’ve done, then find ways to highlight your strongest accomplishments. The person reading your resume should see right away that you can perform the duties the position requires.
Of course if you know what type of job you want, it’ll be easier to create your resume. However, if you’re not sure what you want to do next -or how to update your resume to reflect your varied skills – consider hiring a professional to help. These days you can’t take a chance that your resume will be overlooked. If you present yourself to your best advantage, you’ll have a better chance of being hired for the job you want.

Create a Resume That Comes Alive

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:02:26 +0000

More often than not, resumes are your first introduction to an organization – giving them the responsibility of persuading the reader to want more. It is common for individuals to agonize over writing a resume and more often than not the finished product looks more like a career obituary or personal statement than a first class ticket to your dream job. A resume is an advert, an advert that introduces an individual, their career achievements to date and predicts how they will perform in their next role.
With only one resume out of every 200 leading to an interview, it is important to ensure that yours is the one that gets noticed. There are a number of key tips to writing a resume that will come alive in the readers’ hand, read on to find out more.
Step 1 – Research
Before starting to write your resume you need to do some preliminary research so you can tailor it to the jobs that you wish to apply for. Writing a broad resume can exclude you from specific positions that you apply for.
o What do I want to do? Research job specifications, websites, industry press.
o What makes me the best candidate for any job? Research job specifications, websites and industry press to discover the types of candidate’s organizations are looking for. Use this research and speak to people within the industry to draw up a list of your skills, characteristics and experience that makes you the best candidate for any job.
o Select the jobs that you would like to apply for
Step 2 – Write your primary job objective (this gives the reader incentive to read on)
An XX position in an organization where YY and ZZ would be required.
Step 3 – Write your summary
Using the research and brainstorming create a summary that articulately matches your skills and experience to the job requirements.
o A short phrase describing your profession
o A statement of broad or specialized expertise
o Use 2/3 additional statements
o Breadth & depth of skills
o Unique mix of skills
o Special or well documented accomplishment
o Awards, promotions or superior performance
o 1 or 2 professional or appropriate personal characteristics
o Add in the sentence you created in Step 2
E.g. Solution focused and driven human resources executive with eight years experience in strategic management and large scale recruitment projects. The national lead for retention policies within a large healthcare provider that has lead to a 15% reduction in turnover among nurses nationwide. Seeking a senior HR management role that offers extensive project work.
Step 4 Resume Format
Now you have your job objective and summary, choose what format of resume best suits your type of job search. There are 3 main types of resumes:
Chronological – This is the most common. It is a chronological listing of your work experience with the most recent first. It is best for:
o People who have practical work experience without long periods of unemployment and minimal job / industry changes.
o Individuals who have shown growth within a single professions
Functional – This resume format focuses on skills, credentials and accomplishments. It highlights what the strengths are rather than when / where they were developed. The main formatting difference is that after the job summary / objective you list your professional or business skills and successes, followed by a list of the positions held. It is best for individuals who:
o Have lots of job experience and many jobs
o Are just entering the work force with no / little track record
o Are just pre-retirement and have lots of work experience
o Are returning after a period of absence (return after maternity/paternity leave or long term sickness)
o Are changing careers / do not have consistent career growth
o Are Military personnel seeking civilian jobs
Combination – This resume format is a combination of the chronological and functional types. It is best for individuals who:
o Are advancing in the prospective careers and have an established track record they want to keep.
Step 5 Success Stories
Whatever format you choose you still want to include between 2-5 professional success stories for each role you have had. A useful method to help you create a strong resume is the mnemonic is CARS. For each job held think of Challenges you faced, Actions you took, Results or outcomes and finally Skills / Strengths that this showed you have. Using this story to create a sentence that speaks to how successful you were at your previous role. Remember to refer back to the words used and requirements detailed in the job description and use them where necessary so your resume is tailored to the hiring manager’s specific requirements.
E.g.
C – We needed to recruit 10 nurses before the opening of a new hospital ward in 4 wks time
A – Worked with team to create a shorter recruitment turnaround time, created a Team Leader specific to the project and negotiated the buy in of senior managers to sign off new recruits.
R – Recruited and trained all 10 within the 3 weeks, reducing the predicted $500k agency spend.
S – Negotiation, team leadership, meet deadlines, motivation, intuition and creative problem solving.
Resume – Successfully managed a team that recruited 10 nurses, expedited their training and start date in order to meet a 1 month deadline, saving the hospital a predicted $500k in agency spend.
Step 6 Education & Publications
Enter in reverse chronological order after your work experience and accomplishments.
The only time you put education directly under the summary would be:
o Recently graduated

3 Keys to Managing Career Burnout

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:58:25 +0000

I recently gave a presentation on this topic at an Annual Conference of Human Resource Professionals. The room was full! So I thought the information might be timely for some of you.

What is burnout? What are the symptoms and causes? And if you’re experiencing it, what can you do?

The dictionary states that burnout is “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” I put usually in italics because even when you love your work like I do, you can overdo and find yourself burned out.

Symptoms of burn out can be physical, behavioral and spiritual. Here are some signs that you’re heading for burn out:

• fatigue • muscle tension • headaches • insomnia • not keeping commitments • lack of effectiveness • irritability • anxiety • sense of emptiness-nothing left to give • lack of joy • not able to laugh

Causes of burnout can come from within ourselves or from our organizations. Some common causes are high expectations of ourselves, denial of our basic needs like food and sleep, poor time management skills, inability to set boundaries or to say no.

Organizational causes can be a culture of competitiveness, or one in which being constantly busy and overworked is prized with email and phone calls taken along on “vacations.” Insufficient training in new job roles or cramped, noisy environments can also contribute to burnout.

Here are 3 ways to manage burnout: change the stressful situation, reduce your vulnerability to stress and/or change the way you react to stress that cannot be changed:

1. Change the stressful situation if you can. If there are some high stress aspects of your job, see if you can rotate this task with others. Limit the number of hours you are under stress. Spend some time on career/life planning. Set your priorities and live by them.

2. You can reduce your vulnerability to stress by taking care of your physical self with good nutrition, exercise and enough sleep. Avoid nicotine and don’t overdo caffeine and alcohol. Surround yourself with supportive people, work with a coach who will listen to you deeply and help you to create a good balance of work and other aspects of your life.

3. Finally, change the way you react to stress. You can do this by modifying your self-talk and self-criticism. Learn techniques to calm yourself – a few deep breaths can bring you right back to a centered place, able to face whatever stress is in front of you. Become a self-care expert and have some fun.