Well its time for another PODCAST. I know I have said it before but tomorrow is the day. If you want to participate in the PODCAST, send instant messages to trochellehome@yahoo.com. Feel free to email or instant message your questions during the show.

Since I will not be providing transcripts of the show, I am going to share some quick information about how to get a job online TRochelle Style!

STEP 1:

I don't think we are using our cover letters to our best abilities. A cover letter can serve as so many wonderful things. Let's say you have a lot of experience but you do not want the employer to think that you are unreliable and hop job to job. There is plenty of time to explain all your work history in the interview but on the resume you want to only go back about three years. What about all that other experience? COVERLETTER!
What about when you volunteered? I just know you gathered some work experience...but you are running out of space on your resume....don't fret...put it in the COVERLETTER! Example:

Dear Sir/Madame:
My name is John/Jane Doe. I would like to thank you in advance for reviewing my application for employment. While I have your attention, I would like to inform you of all I have to offer as a potential employee. I have worked several years in the medical field and gained an illustrious amount of knowledge. From the administrative to the medical aspect of my field, I have attained a very impressive amount of work experience as well. You will find that my extroverted behavior allows me to work well with anyone in any atmosphere. I have a very extensive clerical background. (feel free to expand on all your experience right here) You will also find that I have certifications that supersede the average expectations.


Thank you again for reviewing my resume and I look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.

Cordially yours,


_______ _ __________

This is just an example but you get the idea. Sell yourself...sell yourself...sell yourself! You have to make them think you are the best things since sliced bread! Tell them how wonderful you are and if you don't believe it neither will they so make them believe it. Tell them that you are a wonderful asset they do not want to let slip by. Tell them that you could tell them all day but you could show them even better! Be confident and arrogant in your cover letter. For some reason its appealing. Some believe that arrogance is not a good thing in an interview or cover letter but you could not be more wrong! Even employers say they do not want that type of behavior but in an interview its ideal. It shows your future employer that you are the diamond they have been looking for all this time!

Let's talk about how to recognize positive attributes to convey in a cover letter. It sounds quite technical but we all have a positive attribute. We just need to know how to convey the message to the employer. The best place to convey this message is in a cover letter.

I am sure that you have read all about how to write a cover letter so I will not repeat that too much. I want to focus on pulling your attributes out of you. Many of us think that we are incapable of working especially in the home, but we just have not realized our full potential.

How? That is easy. I will give you some examples of your hidden attributes.

A person who has to schedule many events (kid's sport's practices and events etc.) would be a good scheduler or coordinator. You would need to be confident enough to put that information in your cover letter. You could put that you were extremely organized and possess excellent coordinating and scheduling skills. Its true. Our activities outside of the workforce are equally as relevant as our activities performed in the workforce. If you have volunteered, the tasks completed during volunteer work is resume worthy as well as cover letter worthy. Never leave experiences out of a cover letter.

If you worked in the fast food industry, then you have done customer service. Albeit face to face, working in fast food is still customer service or customer relations. You will also want to note your ability to do ten key. Your keystrokes may not be tops but the fact that you can do ten-key just adds to your ability to brag.

Have you ever taught Sunday school? Well maybe you should think about what you did when you were teaching. You have taught a group of people and that number of people is important. Equally important is the time you spend teaching your own children. This kind of experience could get you a tutoring job working from home.

Never discount life experience. Life experience is key when attempting to find work. Knowing what you have done creates a path for you will do in the future. Just like bad work experience can follow you, so can the good stuff. Never leave off important life experience. You may not type 75wpm but you can type so put that your cover letter. Let the employer know that you may work at home but you work well with others and you are a team player. Inform them of how excellent a communicator you are and how you convey messages well. Employers love an employee or contractor that can communicate on multiple levels.

There are different ways in which to say the simplest things. Let's share some creative ways to say the simplest things:

1. A poet would want to write that they are a creative lyricist with inspiring ideas

****Now your turn, lets make a list to inspire anyone new to working at home. This could help in all fields, so think outside the box!****

Step 2:

Use VERBS!!! Verbs give your resume action. Words like responsible make you sound boring.
When you update or even compose your resume, people tend to put out some very personal information. There are times when jobs that we think are jobs sneak through the cracks and are actually spammers and identity thieves! You do not want these bottom feeders to know your personal information. Never put your social security number or address on a resume. You can easily kick your resume off with your name, email address, title (if you have one), and your phone number. This will allow the employer to get in contact with you without giving them access to how to get to your front door.

A little more advice when composing your resume is to please limit your wonderful accomplishments to one page. You have to think of a recruiter or employer as a child with ADHD and they do not want to read about your time as an Eagle Scout when you were 7 years old. This is true for working inside the home or out. You should also always start your resume off with a nice objective. Let the employer know what you expect from them and that you are not a "OneNightStand" type of employee. You need to let them know that you want to grow within their company.

One more and perhaps the most import tip when writing your resume. EXPERIENCE and SKILLS go hand in hand! If you have a skill then you have experience. Many times, people say they do not have any experience when they are well of experience. I made that mistake when I went to college (yes I went geez). I put down that I had never volunteered for anything. I did not get the scholarship I wanted because I had not volunteered while I was in high school. I felt really dumb since I had been a Sunday School teacher since the 7th grade, and taught Bible Study on Tuesday nights, did an afterschool program for children with disabilities, handed out snacks at the local bank after school twice a week, and helped take care of babies in the NICU at a local hospital. I never saw any of that as volunteer work (stupid huh?). Many of us do the same thing with our work experience. If you have children, you can multi-task, you may be a good scheduler. You might spear head your neighborhood watch, or do volunteer work for the church, a local organization, or anything. Its all work experience and you can put that in your resume. By all means, don't say....I dictate notes for the PTA, just say dictation. You have to pour honey on yourself to make sure you are attracting the right bears in this job world. Be creative!

Tune in for Step 3......