November is Career Development Month. With so many job seekers losing unemployment benefits this fall, now is a good time to review the principles of career development and job search, particularly for those in transition from one field to another.



Next week's column explains the process for conducting a job search outreach.



To many people, revising resumes is an odious task, second only to a root canal for discomfort. If you follow this process, you'll drastically reduce the number of times you revise your resume.



Because you know the work you plan to do, and you will have identified the skills required for that work, you can build your resume once with an emphasis on the skills needed by your target employers.

Since this process reduces or eliminates reliance on electronic job boards, it also reduces the impulse to change the resume for every posting you see. Instead, you can use the cover letter to customize your message to each employer.

If this sounds appealing, here are the steps to revise your resume one last time:

♦Post your targeted job title prominently near your computer. This is to remind you that the manager who needs this kind of worker is your target audience.

♦Using your research and knowledge of the field, identify key skills needed in this job, and post that list by the computer as well.

♦Review the list of needed skills. Can you do these things? Then your resume needs to say so, early and often. You might decide to rewrite your resume entirely. If so, try using these elements: a headline, a summary statement, a skills section, an accomplishments section, a related-work section, and a section for training in this field. In each category, direct the information to the work goal, and use the language used by these employers.

♦Review your work to see if your new resume needs more in the way of strategy. Ask yourself these questions as you read:

♦Does the resume announce you as a professional in your chosen field, and build the case for your related skills?

♦Does it downplay information from past work that isn't relevant to this goal?

♦Is it quickly and easily readable?

♦Is there enough information to be compelling to a future employer?

This last question is of the “rubber meets the road” variety. Sometimes you'll discover when creating a career-changer resume that “there isn't any there there.” You know what they need, but you just don't have it yet.

Not to worry. You'll have to build those skills, of course, but in the meantime you can try positioning yourself one job level lower than you had planned. If so, start again with Step 1 and develop your resume for the new, more-achievable goal.

And don't dawdle - you'll want to be ready for launch when you read next week's article on contacting employers.