1. Provide an employer benefit. Tell prospective employers what you can do for them (especially in terms of money you can make them or money/time you can save them) and they will put your name at the top of the list. If you do nothing else, do this. Consider a one-sentence resume that reads:

Based upon my studies at ABC University and my three years of experience analyzing the manufacturing of widgets at ACME Widgets, Inc., I can save your company $400,000 in six months.

Compared to a three-page resume that never indicates what the job candidate might do for the employer—who do you think will get an interview?

2. Be personal. The days of the one-size-fits-all resume are long gone. If a job opportunity doesn’t inspire you enough to tweak your CV and write a brief cover letter, don’t even both applying.

3. Proofread! Maybe they’ll notice a typo, maybe they won’t. But if they do, your chances of getting through the door will go way, way down.

4. Be honest. It can be tempting to fib a bit on your resume. Maybe you embellish past responsibilities or “tweak” employment dates to cover brief periods of unemployment. Unless you blatantly misrepresent you credentials (such as falsely claiming a university degree), you may not get caught, but even trivial details can cost you your job. Honesty is always the best policy, and it can cost you a lot of trouble down the road.

5. Be succinct. Whenever possible, keep your resume on just one page. Consolidate multiple positions at one employer under one heading, and leave off details of older experiences or ones that aren’t relevant to the job for which you are applying. The shorter your resume, the more likely an employer will read it.

6. Be specific. Since you want to be concise, choose your words carefully. When you do so, be as specific as possible. Before you write each entry on you resume, ask yourself: What, exactly, did you accomplish? And why, exactly, will that experience benefit your prospective employer?

Starbucks Career Tip: Engage Others – Most people don’t expect to have a counter person use their first name or ask them how they are doing (and seem genuinely interested), let alone make eye contact. Sadly, most people have come not to expect true engagement from coworkers, managers, or clients, either.

How to Use It – Imagine how you can stand out at work if you make an effort to use names, make eye contact, and be genuinely interested in everybody you talk to each day.

Starbucks Career Tip: Surprise People – Are you a Starbucks regular? Chances are you have received a free drink when a barista makes a mistake or things are running slow. How many other companies admit to a mistake and give you free product without being asked? Such a simple gesture can make a customer’s day.

How to Use It – At work, surprise others by going above and beyond. Buy flowers for a coworker who had a bad day, take a good client to lunch and avoid selling him anything for the entire hour, or make your boss look really good in front of her manager.

Starbucks Career Tip: Know Your Stuff – These days you can walk into a store to buy a TV and find salespeople who could barely tell you the difference between LCD and plasma screens. Ask any Starbucks barista about the differences among Latin American, African, and Southeast Asian coffee beans, however, and you’ll likely get an earful. That’s because Starbucks employees at every level are expected to know coffee.

How to Use It – How well do you know your company’s business? Whether you work in sales, finance, human resources, or on the warehouse floor, taking an active interest in understanding your company’s product, culture, and business strategy will help you take your career to new heights.

Starbucks Career Tip: Recognize Others – Though you might not know it as you wait for your cappuccino, Starbucks pushes its partners (Starbuckian slang for employees) to recognize each other for a job well done. Partners trade personalized business-card sized notes with one of several guiding principles printed on the back to show day-to-day gratitude for a job well done. Coworkers and managers have higher awards to bestow upon partners who really go the extra mile.

How to Use It – Recognizing others at work can be as simple as saying “thank you” for ordinarily thankless tasks. Say it personally, or leave a handwritten note. If you’re a manager, nothing boosts employee job satisfaction like the feeling that their contributions are noticed and valued.

Teaching

The nation still faces widespread teacher shortages as populations swell and more teachers reach retirement. The best prospects are in math, science, and special education, and in fast-growing states like Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, and Texas, but well-qualified applicants should be able to find teaching positions anywhere.

Health Care

With increasing demand from aging baby boomers and a perennial shortage of qualified applicants, health care continues to top the lists both of recession proof careers, and the highest paying careers. Unlike the best parking spots at the hospital, the good career prospects aren’t just reserved for docs. Nurses, physicians’ assistants, pharmacists, and various medical technicians also stand to do well.

Public Safety and Security

Crime, fires, and medical emergencies don’t slow down with the economy. And, as the population grows, cities and towns need more police officers, fire fighters, and EMTs to protect them. While initial competition to become a police officer or fire fighter can be tough, once you’re in you will enjoy great job security.

Environmental Science

Being “green” may be trendy, but reducing our environmental impact is also critical for our future. Enter environmental scientists, who do everything from monitor pollution to design eco-friendly technologies. Career prospects for environmental scientists are expected to dramatically outpace most fields over the next ten years.

Federal Government

If you want some real job security, work for Uncle Sam. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you are 75 % less likely to get laid off from a government job than by a private employer. Opportunities abound for twentysomethings in a variety of divisions, and some of them are pretty cool. For example, you could become an FBI Agent, travel abroad with the State Department, or study killer strains with the CDC.

Do you work in an another industry that seems to be recession proof?

The next-generation BlackBerry 9900 “Bold”

On average, BlackBerries cost more than typical mobile phones, both up-front and in monthly service charges. In my case, the Blackberry cost about $200 more than a regular mobile phone, and costs me $20 additional on my monthly bill for unlimited email and internet use.

Yes, I bought my BlackBerry, in part, to be able to check my personal email anywhere, but I also got it because it would allow me to keep an eye on my work email, too. At the time, I think I justified the purchase by calling it an “investment” in my career.

Since my employer hasn’t given me a BlackBerry, there is no expectation that I reply to emails at midnight, but I might choose to if I see something from an important client. After all, that could be the ticket to a big deal, or even better, a big promotion.

After having my Blackberry for over a year, the harsh reality is that this doesn’t happen that often, if at all. Yes, I enjoy reading work emails as they come in, even if I’m sitting on a plane waiting to take off, but the instances in which I can do something about an email right then and there are few and far between.

Even in the world of BlackBerries, if it is that important, we should all still pick up the phone.

When it comes down to it, I realize I’m paying the extra money for a cooler-than-ordinary phone and that it’s not that much of an “investment”. Of course, if I was on the road all the time, and frequently needed to handle emails when I couldn’t get to my computer, a BlackBerry might seem more like a necessity.

Do you spend money on, or “invest” in, things that further your career?

Best Paying Jobs

A recent report on CNN listed average salaries for some entry-level jobs. The results aren’t that surprising, with Engineering, Computer Science, and Economics leading the pack. On average, the best paying entry-level field is Chemical Engineering, with an average starting salary of $63,749.

Another field to watch seriously is nursing, with an average starting salary of $52,129. Not only is the pay good, but opportunities abound. In my job I frequently talk to nurses and other medical professionals nationwide, and I am amazed at what they tell me about the job market for nurses. I recently heard there is a nationwide shortage of about a million nurses. Somebody else said that nurses can change jobs every six months and no personnel department would bat an eye at the applicant’s resume.

Other fields that pay well include finance ($48,795), accounting ($47,413), marketing ($43,459), and human resources ($40,250). At the lower end of the scale are communications ($35,196), journalism ($32,250), and psychology ($30,877).

Best Growth Prospects

While starting salary is certainly one aspect of a career to consider, especially if you are graduating with debt, perhaps more important is that career field’s long term prospects:

• Will your salary grow with experience?
• Will you be able to take on progressively significant positions?
• Finally, will demand for your job increase over the next 30 years?

Of the above careers, for example, graduates entering a business or finance related field can probably expect larger salary increases as they are promoted into leadership positions, while it can take much longer (or additional education) for nurses and engineers to get significant raises.

If you want to know how demand for a particular career path will stack up in the future, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides forecasts for future job demand.

Current stats list the five fastest growing occupations for candidates with a bachelors degree as network analysts, software engineers, personal financial advisers, substance abuse counselors, and financial analysts.

For candidates with associates degrees, the best fields are veterinary technicians, physical therapy assistants, dental hygienists, environmental science technicians, and cardiovascular technicians.

Have you chosen a career field because of the pay or anticipated demand in your field? Let me know!