Prodigal Magazine

Killer Resume pt.2

OK, folks, last time we got you halfway through your resume, so we need to finish up this week and then move on to the other aspects of the job hunt.

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Writing a Killer Resume Pt1.

Last blog, we talked about writing a quality cover letter, so we’re going to focus on resumes this week. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to be the most qualified candidate to get called for an interview. You simply have to make the strongest case for yourself, and nobody should be able to do that better than you! Just like your cover letter should make the employer eager to read your resume, your resume should make him eager to meet with you face-to-face. You accomplish this by selling yourself better than the other applicants. Think of it like this: people don’t spend $100 on Nike tennis shoes because they’re the best shoes in the world. They might or might not be; I really don’t know. People buy them because the advertisers sell them! So your resume is your advertisement. You’re the marketer and the product! That said, you should tailor your resume to suit the needs of your target market (the employer). In other words, you should have a standard resume that can be adjusted slightly depending on the position you’re seeking and the personality of the hiring person.

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Job Hunting Essentials: Cover Letter Guide

With the unemployment rate reaching 10%, it’s a pretty safe bet that someone reading this blog is either out of work or going to be soon. It’s unfortunate, but true. The number of resumes I’ve received in the last two months probably outnumbers the amount I’ve gotten in the last two years! If you’re one of those individuals who is currently on the job hunt, you have some stiff competition. There are going to be more—and better— qualified applicants seeking the same occupation you are, so it’s more important than ever before to position yourself to be the best candidate available. In addition, since it’s a buyer’s market, employers are in a position to be as picky as they’ve ever been. So what can you do to increase your odds of winning the job lottery? For starters, your cover letter must be impeccable. If you don’t get called for an interview, you have zero chance of getting the job!

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25 things I’ve learned in my life

Recently, I read an article written by a 90-year old woman entitled 45 Things I’ve Learned in Life. It was a great article, and I really identified with many of the things she listed. Just for yuks, I decided to compile my own list, and now I’ve decided to share it with you. It’s in no particular order (and, no, I didn’t steal any of her list!).

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The Danger of Drift

Picture this: you're walking along a beach at sunset, enjoying the view, the weather, and all of God's creation. The waves washing up on the beach create a soft symphony that soothes away the cares of the world. The sunlight reflecting off the water offers a glimpse of how the streets of gold might look. Along the shore, scattered in no apparent design, are hundreds of pieces of driftwood. They seem to have been placed there by God Himself to add to the beauty of the scenery. At this moment, all is well with your soul. Later, as you relax by a warm fire, you notice that you're running low on firewood, and immediately, the driftwood comes to mind. It is then that you realize what God said in Hebrews 2:1. "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so we do not drift away."

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What’s this got to do with leadership?

Hello again everyone! Thanks for reading my blog. I often wonder how many of you read these entries, and come away wondering if I’m ever going to actually talk about leadership. Well, today is your day (sort of)! You see, I have been talking about leadership since day one. Each entry contains fundamental leadership building blocks that will help you be successful. They may not teach you specific skills, but these characteristics that God is trying to build, strengthen, and maintain in your life will play much more significant roles in your success than any tips I can give you about interviewing, goal-setting, or P&L analysis.

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Mentoring 201

OK. So we’ve tackled what I consider the worst aspect of mentoring, and now we can move on to some of the good stuff! In today’s entry, we’ll discuss why it’s so important to your success, and I’m sure we’ll have a word or two from our sponsor as well. (Jesus is our Sponsor, so there will definitely be some input from Him.) First of all, why mentor? I listed a few reasons in my last blog, but there are plenty of others I can add to that list. Probably the most important reason is that it’s the only way to increase time. There are only 24 hours in a day, and only so much one person can accomplish in those 24 hours. However, by taking someone under your wing, and teaching him or her to duplicate your efforts, you can effectively multiply your productivity, thus multiplying your time! This principle is outlined in the gospels. Jesus mentored His disciples, and then sent them out to “make disciples of all nations, and [teach] them to obey everything [He] commanded” (Matt. 28:19-20). Jesus Himself did not go into all the world. In His human form, this would have been physically impossible, and we know from a number of examples that He honored His human limitations (see Matt. 4:2). Nor could His disciples have gone into all the world by themselves! They needed to duplicate their efforts as well. Two thousand years later, we’re still trying to get into all the world! Even Paul—who pretty effectively evangelized most of the civilized world—only managed to visit only one small geographic area around the Mediterranean Sea.

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Why Not Skip Church?

I’m sure you’ve encountered someone, somewhere who’s told you, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” Maybe you’ve even said it yourself. Regardless, it’s not true. You can be saved without going to church, but you can’t be a Christian, and believe me, there is a difference between being saved and being a Christian! Being saved means you are going to heaven, but being a Christian means you follow Christ here and now. So why would someone make this statement? Typically—and I know from personal experience—it’s just an excuse that disguises the real reason a “Christian” isn’t attending church. Whether it is laziness, busyness, back-sliddenness, or ignorance, there is no Biblical foundation for it. In fact, just the opposite is true. There are a ton of exhortations that urge us to go. Let’s start with the fourth commandment....

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Mentoring 101

Leadership and mentoring both come with a significant amount of heartache, so I’d like to tackle the more negative aspects of mentoring before we jump into the fun stuff! Don’t worry, it won’t last long! I know from personal experience that it can be frustrating when you invest your time, talent, and treasure in another person, and that person ultimately ends up failing. It’s easy to step back and blame yourself—a good leader will always do that—and it’s also easy to want to throw in the towel. If you’re at all like me, you probably feel as though you’ve been kicked in the stomach, and that’s a feeling nobody wants repeated with the next protégé!

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Activity Versus Productivity

I'm sure many of you have read The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. Concise, well-written, and definitely inspired by God, it will help you. Period. However, my goal today is not to plug the book (at least not for free!), but to draw out one of the many, many profound statements Dr. Warren makes: "never confuse activity with productivity". This is likely common knowledge for most of us in leadership, and it's certainly common sense, but that doesn't mean we all apply it consistently in our lives. In fact, I'd be willing to guess that for most of us, no matter how much we understand the concept, it's probably something we need to rededicate ourselves to quite frequently.

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