Last November, just a week before I started my contract job with Nintendo, Mike and I went to a “mixer” sponsored by ProLango, an employment consulting service. I wrote a post about it and I was disappointed in this idea of building my work-related network with drinks in Seattle’s Hard Rock Café.
Subsequently, I started to receive emails from ProLango with information about how to gain employment. So I began to make it a habit to go to the links within the emails and read the informative articles. And guess what? I liked what I was reading. I used some of the information to re-work my resume and to target some of the employers I’d like to work with on a permanent basis.
Recently ProLango advertised an upcoming seminar addressing online job applications. It hinted about how dismal it is to apply for jobs online – dismal in that hundreds of people apply for one position; dismal in that resumes are scanned by special software that looks for key terms, resulting in the “grading” of resumes; and dismal in that applicants can be blacklisted by a company simply by applying to the company too many times.
So Saturday morning Mike and I headed to the Bellevue Hyatt for an hour and a half seminar that turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and helpful presentations I have ever attended!
ProLango is led by Paul Anderson, a former Microsoft and Expedia employee, who writes a newspaper column, hosts a TV show, and speaks nationwide on career transformation. Paul is a very engaging speaker. Paul is not loud and pushy. Paul is genuine. Paul tells stories and backs them up with names and numbers.
I learned a lot and I feel rejuvenated. I’m ready to develop a new marketing strategy for my job hunt and then put it into play. I highly recommend tuning into ProLango and Paul and learning as much as you can!
Weary of waiting
1 day ago
4 comments:
Based on the resumes I saw awhile ago, most applicants would do good by learning how to spell and use proper grammar.
Maybe nowadays, those subjects are not taught in school anymore, so I have an idea. Perhaps a gaming program where a word has to be spelled correctly before the enemy villain can be zapped of the screen could teach kids the basics...
Hi Tancho! Your idea about the gaming program is spot on. And funny enough we learned that "ageism" is noted in how applicants send text messages.
Texting "u r phat" would be a from a generation y candidate while "You are very nice." would be from a baby boomer. Aye, yi, yi...now I have to re-learn how to not use capitals and punctuation in order to compete...
...and have fun while you are "re-learning." It should be interesting. I find myself typing and making numerous mistakes these days. You'll do fine, no matter what you do. Take care.
Hello Gloria! YES, I always try to have fun...I'm reworking my resume right now and I already like the new look. Thanks for the positive thoughts!
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