Ex-Military Fire Chief Returns to War Zone

Ex-Military Fire Chief Returns to War ZoneEx-Military Fire Chief Returns to War ZoneHow Air Force veteran-turned-fire-chief Sandy Sanders tailored his resume to land a hot new job.Sandy Sanders is a trained leader. After 20 years in the Air Force, the last 10 as a fire chief, and several mora as a civilian fire chief, he welches looking for a job that would use his skills managing a big fire department or multiple operations.Two years ago, he welches fire chief at an airport in Curacao - a job he knew would be ending after a change in management. At that point, he posted his resume on OpsLadder and decided to take advantage of Ladders resume-writing services. The resume rewrite prompted him to consider how he wanted to proceed with his job search.Casting a wide net(I was looking) for fire-department positions on Ladders but never found any before, Sanders said. What I did find was operations jobs and director of quality assurance roles, which are positions I qualify for. I thought, Maybe I need to make a career change. But my heart always belonged to the fire department.When I redid my resume, the woman who helped me asked, What are you really looking for? I told her, Im looking for a fire-chief position, but here is everything I am qualified to do. We focused it more on operations because I was seeking a director position, and those are the words that would pop up for recruiters more than other things. The resume included my background in fire service and quality control.In July 2007, that resume helped him to land with Pro-Tec Fire Services Ltd. to manage the Bob Hope airport in Burbank, Calif.,. And while he was happy was about the job, Sanders said, he still held out hope that he could find another job as a fire chief.Keeping your options openHe changed his resume again to focus on his experience as a fire chief and added Operations and Quality keywords to fill out his background history. He kept his resume on Ladders, knowing that jobs for fire chiefs at large locations are few and far between. I posted my resume, and it stayed there for quite some time, he said.Meanwhile, Sanders was taking on more responsibility at his job at the Burbank airport. He spent a good amount of time making sure the airport met all Federal Aviation Administration standards. Inspections from the FAA passed with flying colors, and Pro-Tec put him to work at other properties the company managed. The company asked Sanders to take his training manual to other airports to improve ratings of those airports. He began traveling to these other airports to train staff and troubleshoot issues.And then, a year after posting his rewritten resume, he unexpectedly got a bite.In August 2008, KBR, the huge construction- and engineering-services company, was looking for a fire chief to work in Asia and the Middle East. He was contacted by a recruiter who spoke to him about his work history. And a few weeks later, he spoke to another recruiter. The more KBR recruiters got t o know about Sanders, the more tailored to his experience the job description became.We talked about once a week, Sanders said. As each recruiter called me, wed bring it to the next level. The more we talked, the more we got into my background, my experience, my education and how I got to the point I was at.Creating your own adventureSanders and KBR spoke over the next four months. By New Years, Sanders said, KBR told him, We are looking at a different position. This is what we want. How can you help us? We talked from January to April, defining my role and responsibilities, and how this program will grow and change.In the end, he was able to tailor his job to his specific strengths. Since April he has been the executive fire chief for KBR. His family will remain in California while he spends much of the next year traveling. And, while he will get a couple of weeks of vacation every four months and fly his family anywhere in the world to meet him, hes hoping the overseas part of his job is temporary. My goal is to get everything straight in the first year and then move up to a corporate level and return to the States. If I do everything right, my replacement will be able to take it from there.After he finishes a training program in Houston this June, he will be in charge of fire stations in 44 locations in Asia and the Middle East. His job is to make sure all these locations, many of them in war zones, are running smoothly.After 20 years in the U.S. Southern Command, he had become familiar with working in war zones. He was part of both Desert Shield in 1990 and Desert Storm in 1991, helping to put out those fires spouting from oil wells in Kuwait. Its no surprise that KBR was confident in his ability to stay cool in hot spots.

5 famous novels that will reignite your creativity

5 famous novels that will reignite your creativity5 famous novels that will reignite your creativityI am a writer, and part of being a great writer means reading - a lot.Butreadinghas so many other benefits that people tend to forget, one of which being it works your brain in a different way thanreading blogs(like this one) or magazines or social media posts.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreReading a masterful novel and immersing yourself in the story is a workout for your brain. Youll be amazed how much richer your creativity will be after finishing a classic piece of literature.Here are 5 of my favorite novels ever written1. Lolita by VladimirNabokovLolitawas, and will forever be, an extremely controversial novel.It was written in the 1950s, and is the story of an older man who loves from afar a very young girl. Even in todays society, you can imagine peoples response to an ol der narrator that speaks delicately of the temptations this teenage girl arouses in him. It makes sense then why in the 1950s this story raised hell.Honestly, this book is tied for 1 for my favorite books. If you havent read it, you must. It is far from the creepy and inappropriate tale my synopsis paints it to be. The narrator is darkly hilarious, and will leave you laughing and astounded that something so uncomfortable could be so rich with material.Its a beautiful story, to say the least.2. Portnoys Complaint by PhilipRothAnother uncomfortable but uncontrollably funny story,Portnoys Complaintwas written in 1969 and is a fictional story about what it was like growing up as a child in a Jewish household.Philip Roth, himself, was Jewish, so Im koranvers you can imagine the storm this novel caused when it was published. Of course, he chalked it all up to fiction but later admitted of course that he used his own upbringing as inspiration.There is a reason this book has become an Ameri can classic. The writing style is brilliant It is told from the perspective of a boy, many years later, on a therapists couch, reflecting on his childhood. It is extremely self deprecating, and that is what makes it so fantastic.If you havent read it, you must.3. The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest HemingwayAn American classic and Pulitzer Prize winner in 1953,The Old Man And The Seais a novella and tells the tale of a fisherman and a young boy.In less than 130 pages, Hemingway has wrapped his characters so tightly in description and quirky traits that you cant help but wonder what the story is truly about - is it the fisherman, the boy, their relationship, the old mans relationship with the sea, etc.This is a very short story, but it is intended to be read slowly. Its writing style speaks of the story as much as the words themselves. Its rhythm moves like a tide, its sentence structure vast with a depth and yet still so very simple. The book is a reflection of the sea, and should be taken as such.You will emerge from this novel feeling renewed, that much I can promise you.4. The Glass Bead Game by HermannHesseAn obscure but magical story,The Glass Bead Gamewas published in 1943 in Switzerland.The author, Hermann Hesse, would go on to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, for hisclassical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style.The Glass Bead Gameis not an easy read. It is a challenge because it is filled with so much so many themes, so much symbolism, and so many deeply complex messages. It is about a futuristic world existing without all the flying cars and robots and blah blah. Its primary setting, Castalia, is instead a place where extreme intellectuals devote themselves to what is called the glass bead game - a highly complex combination of music, mathematics, history and sciences.One of the key themes, of course, is the idea of mastery - and how far one will go to master their craft.It is a book that takes a few readings to fully unders tand, but even the first read will leave you more open-minded than when you began.5. The Firm by JohnGrishamAnd of course, a candy read.The Firm, later adapted into a film, is the book that put John Grisham on the map. It wasnt until this book was published that his first book,A Time To Kill, really picked up traction - and then from there, the rest is history.The Firmis a thick book that, I swear to you, I read in less than 24 hours, holding my breath the entire time. If there is one reason John Grisham has become such a successful author, it is the feeling he evoked in me, the reader, duringThe Firm. The story moves pages, and keeps you barreling towards the end the entire way.One part law, two parts mystery, you will be hooked from the first chapter.This article originally appeared on Inc Magazine.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Fr anklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

What Makes a Recruiter Stop Reading Your Resume [Infographic]

What Makes a Recruiter Stop Reading Your Resume Infographic What Makes a Recruiter Stop Reading Your Resume Recruiters claim to spend five minutes reviewing each resume they receive, but they actually only average six seconds per resume, according to MightyRecruiter (full infographic below). Thats a 5000 percent discrepancy.Clearly, recruiters want to be perceived as being thorough when reviewing resumes. However, many recruiters dont have enough time to be as thorough as theyd like to be with each resume.Time Spent vs. Information LearnedBut how efficient can a recruiter be? Because good recruiters create good systems to increase the volume of resumes they receive, they are often looking for reasons to eliminate an applicant so that they can move on to evaluating the next talented candidate. A recruiter simply doesnt have time to consume an applicants entire professional story.Warren Myers, a seasoned automation professional, succinctly explains on Quora how resume evaluation can m ove from three seconds to fifteenseconds to actually reading the entire documentRead Warren Myers answer to Do hiring managers/recruiters really only spend 6-10 seconds reading each resume? on QuoraResume Red Flags Have Little to Do With QualificationsWhat causes a resume to be flagged as unqualified? According to MightyRecruiter, the top six resume red flags for recruiters areGrammatical mistakesQuirky and unprofessional emaille addressesShort tenures andno career progressionPoor content and organizationInconsistencies within a candidates online presenceIntangibles (e.g., voice, personality) that suggest a candidate wont be a good cultural fit.For a resume to pass the first round of screening, it must present professionally. In particular, that means eliminating grammatical mistakes and unprofessional email addresses, fixing poor content and organization, andmaking sure the document is consistent with your online presence.Time Is a Recruiters Most Valuable AssetWhile I dont condone recruiters recommending applicants based on traits unrelated to the job, I do understand that a recruiters ability to move quickly from a long list of applicants to a short list of quality candidates will determine a lot of their professional success.Techniques that can efficiently red-flag applicants are as important as techniques that can efficiently fast-track applicants. If recruiters use resumes asthe primary collateral for evaluating candidates, then recruiters must learn to evaluate resumes asefficiently as possible. Its an ongoing battle between meeting a companys qualifications and giving each applicant a fair evaluation, all within the limited time of a recruiters day.Would be great to hear from you How can resume evaluation become more efficient?David Smooke is CEO and partner at the digital storytelling firmArtMap Inc.and its media arm,AMI Publications. You can read more of his recruitment content on42Hire. Find him onLinkedIn,Twitter, andFacebook.Master the art of clos ing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. Were SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career. Like this article? We also offer tons of free eBooks on career and recruiting topics - check out Get a Better Job the Right Way and Why It Matters Who Does Your Recruiting. document.write(Read more ) in Resume

Make Friends and Build Relationships at Work - The Muse

Make Friends and Build Relationships at Work - The MuseMake Friends and Build Relationships at Work Research shows that having meaningful relationships at work is one of the most important factors of job satisfaction and overall well-being. So, the mora proactive you are in building relationships at work- with colleagues, clients, mentors, and managers- the better off youll be both partieally and professionally.So, how do you do it? The first step to creating meaningful relationships is to reflect on and appreciate the ones you already have. Take a moment- right now- to think about which relationship at work gives you the greatest sense of purpose. It could be with your boss, a team member, or even that guy you chat with in the elevator every morning. Who inspires you? Who gives you energy?Have your person in mind? Great. Now zu siche comes the hard part Let him or her know it. Send an email or a handwritten note, or, if youre comfortable doing so, stop by this co-workers desk. While emoting our appreciation for someone can be a squirm-worthy exercise, its worth it More often than not the people we care about most dont have a clue how important they are to us and our well-being. Letting them know will not only deepen your relationships, but also increase their sense of purpose by showing them the positive impact theyve had on you. And thats a pretty powerful feeling.From there, try reaching out to others in your professional network. Here are more tried and true ways to foster meaningful relationships at work- some oldies, some you might not have thought of before, but all worth considering.1. Track NamesYou will meet a lot of new people throughout your career, especially when changing jobs or seeking out new networks. As you meet new contacts, write down their names and a few things that stood out to you about them. Follow up with people who you would like to get to know better or who are in positions that interest you. Being the one to first reach out and men tioning something you remember from your initial conversation gives a strong first impression and will help you build relationships quickly.2. Find Energy SourcesMake a list of the people in your organization who give you energy when you meet with them, and seek out opportunities to work with them, whether its officially on an inter-departmental committee or more informally, like asking them for advice. When you do, be conscious of what it is about them that makes you want to work together, and share this with them.3. Get Coffee. Then Get More CoffeeMake a list of people youd like to get to know better, then set up coffee with one person per day for a month. Spend the time understanding what they love about their work. If youre new on the job, this is an easy way to meet people within your organization- but even if youre not, its a great way to build closer relationships. Oh, and be sure to pay4. Be PresentAsk yourself What do my colleagues/managers/clients need from me today? and t hen make it happen. Whether you offer new insights, head up a task, or simply lend sttze to your co-worker who has more than her share on her plate, small gestures can cause big ripples. Which leads me to5. Put Down the *% iPhoneWe get it. You have a million things on your plate, and your mind is already on the next four conference calls you have to get through today. But being fully present in every meeting and conversation will show people they are respected and deserving of your full attention. (Dont believe me? This writer spent a week putting away her phone when she was around other people- and the results were amazing.)6. Be a MentorFind someone you might mentor, and take her to lunch to learn about her dreams and aspirations. You dont have to be an executive or even a manager- many mentoring relationships are peer to peer. To start, find what creates meaningful impact for you at work through a purpose assessment, then ask your mentee to do the same. Those who share your purpo se see the world like you do, and those relationships can generate useful collaboration and deeper connection. 7. Seek Advice and New KnowledgeAsk someone for advice or information, and then follow up on it immediately. Show him or her you are someone worth investing in, as you will act on advice and are eager to learn.8. Celebrate OthersFind a way to publicly celebrate the work of someone else on your team. It doesnt have to be fireworks it can just be a comment in a meeting or an email to the team. Recognizing your colleagues for the contributions they make, big and small, not only makes them feel appreciated, but also inspires others to create a culture of support and positivity feedback.9. End the Day on the Right NoteAt the end of each day, share with someone what you enjoyed from the day. What inspired you? What challenged you? What made you smile? Initiating these conversations can help your colleagues get to know you better and reflect on their own personal growth as well.Fo rming connections today can help you in ways you might not even imagine right now. Invest in connecting with the people around you, and you invest in your own career and well-being. And who knows, you might just make a friend, or a dozen, along the way.Photo of people talking courtesy of Shutterstock.

The Best Way You Can Help Yourself During Your Next Interview

The Best Way You Can Help Yourself During Your Next InterviewThe Best Way You Can Help Yourself During Your Next InterviewIn your next interview, phone screen, or chat over drinks, when the topic comes up ask what are you looking for? The most successful hot dog cart in Ladders hometown of New York City isnt a hot dog cart at all. Its The Halal Guys, a gyro, chicken and rice stand in midtown a couple blocks from Fox News and Radio City Music Hall.As you can see, the line stretches all the way down the block. And its that way any time of day or night. My wife and I once waited a half-hour at 1 a.m. in the morning for Halal Guys gyros after a late night celebrating our anniversary.Now the thing that makes The Halal Guys special is the food and the service. They focus on their specialty and theyre quick to ask what youd like. It makes sense because thats the best way to make sure your customer is getting what they want.And youve experienced the same thing at restaurants and retail shops your whole life. The person behind the counter asks how can I help you? or would you like fries with that? or what would you like today, hon?The question seems so obvious to us because weve grown accustomed to it.Which makes it strange that when youre the one doing the selling or offering, and youre sitting across from your customer, these simple questions so rarely pop into your head to ask.Time after time, when were in the job search, or doing some purposeful networking, or fielding phone calls about job opportunities, we let flattery or nerves or anxiety get in the way of asking the obvious questions.What would you like? is also the right question for you to ask your future bosses, prospective colleagues, and interested recruiters. By the time youve landed on Ladders, youve figured out what youre good at, and where you specialize in life. And just like The Halal Guys, there a limited number of roles that you know youd be good for, or interested in. But somehow, in managing our c areers, we can get flummoxed with trying to sound smart, or live up to some imaginary standard in our head, or let the nerves take over and spend the entire time guessing what the person on the other side of the coffee table needs. But wed actually do better when were moving along in our careers, by starting with what would you like? When you walk into an interview, ask your future manager what are you looking for? When you get a call from a recruiter via Ladders, ask what are you looking for? When a prominent person in your industry floats the idea over cocktails that maybe you could make a new home at their firm, ask well, what are you looking for?And, look, I get it. The nerves, or the surprise, or the social niceties can sometimes make it difficult to keep your focus.Somehow, this is one of those areas where it seems to actually come easier when its a friend or a close colleague from a past life in the discussion. Youre far mora inclined to ask what are you looking for because y oure genuinely interested in making sure that what youve got, and what they need, are matched well together.The fact that theres a schuldverschreibung of knowing each other over years, and your desire to make sure youre doing right by your friend somehow supercedes those nerves and anxieties and surprise. And that makes it easy to get to the heart of the matter and ask without guile or gumption whether or not you truly match up with what your friend is seeking.And while I know it is easier to do with friends, its a good idea to extend this courtesy to everybody you meet in planning your career.Just like the Halal Guys start every customer interaction with what would you like? you can start your conversation with what would you like in this role?Whether its your future boss, the industry recruiter, or the HR manager, make sure to ask up front what they are looking for.The unsurprising truth is they will tell you.This eliminates a lot of guesswork and misunderstandings on your part. I f it turns out theyre looking for something you dont have or cant do, theres every reason to be polite and pleasant and steer the conversation to some other topic because this is not the job or role for you.The Halal guys dont do ice cream sundaes, Cobb salads, or sushi. There are a lot of things that you cant, dont, or wont do. The sooner you can determine whether theres a fit the better off youll both be.And this is important not just for the efficiency of being persuasive in your interviews, but also because wasting your time on roles or conversations that are never going to lead to success distracts you from other, better, more fruitful conversations.So in an interview, in a phone screen, in a chat over drinks at the trade show, when the topic comes up ask what would you like?And Ill see you at the corner of 53rd and 6th in ManhattanIm rooting for you.

How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume - What Is It?

How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume - What Is It? The Downside Risk of How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume CVs are frequently used in academia, in addition to in the sciences. Everyone can say which he or she excelled at their final job. Resumes dont need to be one page. They are tricky its sometimes difficult to know exactly what to include. Job seekers want to see that there are bedrngnis any solid rules concerning what should be placed on a resume. A Summary statement is considerably more effective. Working with a professionally trained resume writer that has a demonstrated track record of succeeding and is up-to-day on the most recent recruitment and hiring trends will probably yield much better results. Finding a work based solely on your resume is most likely not going to take place. The Battle Over How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume and How to Win It Best wishes, Samantha Bee There are a couple requirements that each resume should not have any mat ter the position or variety of job. Saying you would like to be an attorney as you need to produce lots of money isnt any different than the tens of thousands of individuals who move to Los Angeles every year with dreams of being an actor or actress. Unless you happen to be a graphic designer looking for employment, theres no need to over think the plan of your one-pager. At exactly the same time, there are particular jobs where you will need to demonstrate your age (bartenders, for instance). Lets have a peek at the ideal action words its possible to put on your resume while putting in an application for an analytical job. While you would like to cover the issue by offering a brief explanation, you dont ever want to make excuses or justify the issue. If youre asking for work in which youre be expected to speak publicly on behalf of the business, adding information about conference presentations are sometimes a great thing. Finally, you would like to make sure youve got an obje ctive that lines up with the aims of the school and job. As you may leise list all your prior jobs, the sum of space you will need to describe your role, responsibilities, and achievements will be much less, because youll want to focus the info on the skills you used and accomplishments you achieved that are related to your new job objectives. To begin with, perhaps its time to evaluate your current resume to make sure that youre not committing any cardinal sins. After all, it says a whole lot about you whenever you were promoted inside an organization or had the ability to transition your role. The Truth About How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume There are just a couple of sites you ought to be posting your resume to. You may also load your electronic resume onto job search databases and social media sites which will offer your resume greater visibility and exposure. All the sites listed are totally free to post your resume. Just ensure that people that are hunting for you online will like the things that they find.Save your final version for a PDF to be sure everything stays just as is. You need to be able to say all that in one page. Except in very specific contexts in rather specific careers, another page isnt ever a fantastic idea. You may probably expect that nobody else but you could ever bother reading your second page. Processing numbers is quicker and simpler. A functional resume format might be better for you. An excellent resume needs to be standard. Before you begin listing off all your accolades, you have to determine what format of resume you need to use.

How One Company Is Helping GED Students Find the Jobs They Want

How One Company Is Helping GED Students Find the Jobs They Want According to the GED Testing Service, 65 percent of those who pass the GED took the test to further their education. The problem, however, is that only 43 percent of these students actually go on to enroll in postsecondary education programs, and a scant 12 percent actually complete those postsecondary programs.Aaron Michel, cofounder and CEO of career navigation and education software provider PathSource, believes these low enrollment and graduation rates can be partially attributed to a lack of information. That is, GED students dont often receivemuch guidance once theyve passed the test. If they want to continue their education, they generally have to take it into their own hands to find postsecondary programs that work for them.How can you choose the best direction in life if you dont know what all your options are? asks Michel. H ow can you reach your destination if you dont know where youre going?PathSource has recently teamed up with the GED Testing Service in an effort to rectify this situation, and so far, Michel says, the results have been great.A Diplomas Not What It Used to BeAccording to Michel, this is the real core of the problem todays diplomas just arent connected to the 21st century workforce.Theres this gap where all these GED students want to have better lives, and they want to go on to postsecondary education, but they dont know exactly what they want to do or how to get there, Michel explains. Thats the gap that we were brought in to fill.PathSource aims to connect GED students directly to the modern workforce through a suite of career exploration tools.Every person who registers for the GED now will get full access to PathSources tools, Michel says.The PathSource suite comprises a number of tools, most notably a video library of informational interviews and a career assessment that exposes students to potential career paths.Michel calls PathSources video library, which contains mora than 3,000 videos, the worlds largest library of informational interviews on video. The idea here is that students can log into the platform and browse through these videos to learnabout different career paths directly from the professionals who have walked them.PathSource also offers a career assessment that uses a students interests to generate a list of career recommendations. Students can then explore each recommendation further by watching videos and exploring PathSources wide range ofcareer data.We want this test to be more than just a test. We want this to be a bridge to a better future, Michel says. They made the test more rigorous, and they connected it with the 21stcentury workforce through a career exploration process.So Far, So GoodThe PathSource/GED partnership was officially implemented on September 29 not evena month ago just yet and Michel says hes been hearing great feed back.I visited an adult education center right after we went live in Richmond, CA, Michel says. I talked with a number of staff and students, and everyone was really positive about it. I actually ran a few students through the process, and they said it was really invaluable. They didnt know where they wanted to go, and using this, they could make sure life didnt just happen to them.When talking about his experience at the adult education center, Michel zeros in on one student in particular.One woman took the career assessment, and she decided she needed to take it again because she had taken it as who she is today, but she wanted to take it as who she wanted to be tomorrow, Michel says. It was very powerful to binnensee that.PathSource Not Just for GED StudentsWhile PathSource is doing great work with GED students right now, I feel its important to note that these studentsarent the only ones who can take advantage of PathSources career exploration tools. College students, recent gr ads, and even established members of the workforce looking for new career options can benefit from PathSourcesapp and Web portal.Very, very few people choose the right career on their first try some estimates peg that number as low as 5 percent.Basically, the other 95 percent are miserable, Michel says with a bit of grim humor. Finding the right careeris a huge, screaming problem for people across the board, across education levels, across the socioeconomic spectrum.So, if youre one of the 95 percent, you may want to check out PathSource.