I remember being kind of afraid of failing my resume project. It was in Professional Writing, sophomore year of college, where we learned how to write resumes. The professor was a nice guy, but tough and nitpicky—two of the most-often feared traits in a professor. I remember perfectly crafting my resume, spending hours over each and every little detail, because it was in the lost details where you could lose the most points. All my indents were the same, I chose an appropriate font, I had the proper size font progression (never more than a difference of two sizes between two fonts: for example, you can have a 12pt font next to a 10 pt font, but never next to an 8pt font. You know, math stuff). I went over it all with a fine tooth comb, and it paid off. I got an A on the resume, and it’s the same resume I’ve used to get multiple jobs and internships in the past.

I’ve been at Markham Media less than a month but it’s become clear that not a lot of people took a class like I did. Resumes come in and they look like a hot mess. Margins extended out almost falling off the page, awful tiny icons for cell phones and emails, miniscule fonts that nobody can read. And the worst—misspelled words. One woman came in with the word “professional” spelled as ‘profesional’. It was the third word on the page and in a large font at that. She claimed she used spell check but a visual edit should have caught the mistake. I know SpellCheck is awesome, but it’s important to remember that it’s run by a computer, and computers aren’t infallible. It’s vital to scour your resume with your own eyes for this reason. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend or trusted colleague to help you, either.

 There are other little things that can make or break your resume and tell your employer a lot about your attention to detail. One that most easily comes to mind is the simultaneous absence and presence of periods at the end of your bullet points. Because a resume technically is not made of sentences, you don’t have to put a period at the end of each point. However, it is something that’s done in a more formal document, sentences or not, so the choice is yours. Either way, pick one and stick to it. It’s a lot more apparent than you might think to have periods randomly floating on your resume. They might even look like Oreo cookie crumbs which, while delicious in a Dairy Queen Blizzard, don’t belong on your resume.

Varied indents are another common mistake on resumes that are readily visible. I notice that this mostly happens when people indent the dates of their positions on the right side of the page but don’t use the Tab button. This can make your indents appear jagged and messy, and a resume should be the height of cleanliness. Always use the Tab button to make indents because it will make them all the same and you won’t have to worry about flying dates.

No, I haven’t been in the business world very long, but it’s never too early or too late to brush up on spelling, grammar, and visual detail recognition when it comes to your resume. Not to sound like a cheeseball, but a resume is one of the most important pieces of paper you will ever present to someone. It shows all about you, who you are as a person as well as your accomplishments. Wouldn’t you want it to look as good as possible?

Having been in the working world for, oh, three days now, I’m starting to see that maybe my idea of office attire is perhaps a little outdated. At 21, I never thought I’d be saying something like that about myself, but it could very well be true.
When I pictured the working world in my mind, I’m not going to lie, it looked a little bit like Mad Men—crisp clean suits for men and women, the works. But now I am somewhat disappointed to find that, alas, so many places are business casual. Women wear flats to work (gasp!), men don’t wear ties. Maybe it’s because I was raised on all those glamorous movies from the 1930s and so on, but office wear doesn’t look anything like I thought it would.
As I prepared to enter the work world, I bought business skirts and day dresses and heels and bags only now to find that flip-flops have become acceptable office attire. Frankly, I completely disagree and I don’t regret my purchases—quite the opposite, I will happily stick to my office attire. I like feeling like I’m getting dressed up to go to work, like I’m Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday (yes, that movie is from the 1930s, but still…a little glamour never hurt anyone). I feel professional, neat and, really, kind of fabulous. I would love to encourage people to make a return to office glam, to fight the business casual powers that be and enjoy getting dressed up for the office again. After all, when you look good you feel good, so why not look your best all the time?
But as much as I’d love to say that, I know that if you dress too formally in a work environment you can look stodgy and old-fashioned. You might even look dated and might not be able to be taken seriously. So maybe for the meantime we can just keep the office glam mentality. Even if you are dressing in a business casual style, that doesn’t mean you should look sloppy. You should keep your appearance neat at all times—ladies, hide your bra straps and hair ties; gentlemen, make sure your belt matches your shoes. When you’re at work, it’s the details that really matter. A stray button can suggest irresponsibility, a stain can suggest poor manners. When it comes to work, it’s really about the little things. Few people pay attention to the smallest details anymore, so when you really focus on them you stand out above the crowd in a really positive way. People appreciate little considerations like a neat appearance. That may sound terribly outdated but, like I said before, looking good never hurt anyone. In fact, it can only help in a world where so much is based on a first impression. It’s time to start thinking glam again.

“There are always opportunities for people who have creative ideas about cutting cost or increasing revenue”
At least that’s what the head of global CEO search at Russell Reynolds told the WSJ in a recent interview. Great advice to keep in mind when you’re putting together a resume.  Information on revenue should rank high on the list of bullet point accomplishments.  In an  interview highlight revenue results for  your current and past employers as well as any ideas you have for your potential new employer.

In the past few years, LinkedIn has become the top social media site for professionals. Users can post their resumes and connect to industry peers. Recruiters and corporate leaders can scan the site to search for potential candidates. But for creative professionals, LinkedIn has long been lacking a place to display multimedia projects, artwork, or photos.

Until now.

Just last week, LinkedIn developed a new app called the Creative Portfolio Display. This app allows creative professionals from the advertising, digital media, or film industries to showcase their portfolios more easily.

Scott Belsky, the CEO of Behance created the LinkedIn app and emphasizes the importance of using the LinkedIn portfolio as the place to display professional work alongside the professional profile. This new app allows users to display creative projects in their LinkedIn profiles after simply adding these projects to the Behance Network.

This new feature is exciting for creative professionals in the media industry. Advertising executives can now create one central portfolio on LinkedIn and the service is absolutely free, allowing users to upload an endless number of multimedia projects.

Check out Chris Crum’s article at WebProNews for more information on this new app:

http://bit.ly/ct1aYp

By Beverly Weinstein

Dear Bev: What Are Your Top 10 Resume Do’s and Don’ts?

Job opportunities in the media business are looking up. The Internet is booming, the TV upfront is on fire, and the slump seems to be over for magazines, radio and local TV. If you’ve been thinking about a job change, this is a great time to start searching. But while you may be ready, is your resume?

Here are my top 10 resume do’s and don’ts.

1. DO focus on accomplishments and achievements, not just job responsibilities.

2. DO include numbers and brand names. Specifics always catch a reader’s eye faster than general statements.

3. DON’T just add on to an old resume. Edit your previous positions. A job you had 10 years ago shouldn’t command the same amount of space as your current role.

4. DO check out resume formats. There are lots of examples online, including at career sites, that show you how to format in order to highlight important key words.

5. DO make sure your resume is easy to read. There should be ample white space, bolding where applicable and bullet points.

6. DON’T go past two pages. And if you’re more junior, keep it to one.

7. DO indicate the total number of years you’ve been at a company — even if you’ve had several jobs there. One way to handle this is to list dates in parentheses beside each different title/role at the same company. The full employment time should be listed adjacent to the company name.

8. DON’T sacrifice appearance and readability by cramming in too much information. Consider editing down information rather than opening the margins. This is especially true when it comes to early job experience.

9. DON’T list “References provided upon request.” Everyone knows that already.

10. DO list any additional training and interesting or offbeat extracurricular activities or hobbies. While you may not want to list a regular Friday night poker game, you do want to note you ran and completed a 10k race.

Read more articles like this on MediaPost.com.

So Many Links, So Little Time

Check out this interesting book review by John Horgan on Nicholas Carr’s latest book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.

Try not to check your email before you get to the end of this sentence. See? That wasn’t so bad.

“While toiling over what you are now reading, I scanned my three email accounts dozens of times and wrote a handful of emails; I responded on my cellphone to a score of text messages from my girlfriend and kids; I checked the balance of my bank account to see if a promised payment had arrived . . . and so on.

Yet I’m relatively unwired. I don’t do Twitter, Facebook or Skype. And I did all this digital darting hither and thither even though I found the subject I was supposed to be writing about—Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows”—quite absorbing. And disturbing. We all joke about how the Internet is turning us, and especially our kids, into fast-twitch airheads incapable of profound cogitation. It’s no joke, Mr. Carr insists, and he has me persuaded.”

Read the rest on WSJ.

Check out the neat video below of an art installation created by Christopher Baker and Juhasz Marton Andras (and blogged by Austin based group Public School.)

Here’s the idea behind the installation:

“The Murmur Study by Christopher Baker and Juhász Márton András constantly searches Twitter for phrases like eww, argh, hmph and grrr and then prints the guilty tweets on one of 30 thermal printers. The endless ticker tape gathers on the floor below. The purpose of the installation is to analyze the prevalence of human emotion through technological sources such as Facebook and Twitter.”

Murmur Study from Christopher Baker on Vimeo.

Check out more photos and Public School here.

Mosaic illustration by Jennifer Daniel for the New York Times

Are 5,001 Facebook Friends One Too Many?

By Aimee Lee Ball for The New York Times

THE British anthropologist and Oxford professor Robin Dunbar has posed a theory that the number of individuals with whom a stable interpersonal relationship can be maintained (read: friends) is limited by the size of the human brain, specifically the neocortex. “Dunbar’s number,” as this hypothesis has become known, is 150.

Dear Bev: Should I wear a tie and suit or blue jeans with my shirt out? What’s up with business dress codes for guys?

By Beverly Weinstein

If you attended the recent MediaPost Outfront Conference hoping for an answer to this question, you probably left more confused.

Joe Abruzzese, president of media sales and marketing at Discovery Networks, always considered one of advertising best-dressed execs, didn’t disappoint. He was garbed in an elegant dark suit, perfect tie and coordinating pocket square. Sitting next to him was Jon Nesvig, president of Fox Broadcasting Company, looking dapper in an open collared shirt, slacks and a sport coat. And so it went .

One agency exec made his fashion statement in a pair of blue jeans. The closing speaker was Al Gore, dressed in a traditional suit and tie, but his company’s CEO, Mark Rosenthal, opted for the open-collared look.

So what’s appropriate and what’s not?

It would be a mistake to think that anything goes, especially if you’re talking about your first meeting with a potential employer. Even though they may show up in jeans, it’s a bad idea for you to do the same and risk making the wrong first impression. At the same time, a traditional suit and tie may send the wrong signal.

A senior level digital executive, who had early professional roots in the magazine business, met with an old friend from the print side eager for advice on how to break into digital. The print guy showed up in a conservative suit and tie. The exec’s comment: “This guy just doesn’t get it. He looks like he’s living in some other era.”

Don’t make a mistake and assume all digital dress code is more casual. One of my clients at a digital start-up described his ideal job candidate as someone who wore a suit and tie to see clients. “I think it lets our customers know we’re serious, we’re professional and we’re grown-ups,” he said.

A former TV exec working in a downtown digital portal announced in no uncertain terms, “If someone shows up in jeans to an interview, they’re automatically out.”

So how do you decide? The key to knowing how to dress is knowing your audience. Do some research on the company and the company’s culture. Google the executive you’re meeting with and look at press photos, try the company Web site, and check out their LinkedIn and Facebook photos. Are they wearing ties in these shots? If so, wear one when you meet them.

What do you do if you find them in a variety of looks? My advice is to stay on the safe side. At the very least, carry the tie in your jacket pocket.

Read the column on MediaPost.

Dear Bev: How Should I Use Social Networking In My Job Search?

By Beverly Weinstein

Creating a strong online presence is key to a successful job search in the digital media industry. Not only is social media an integral tool for recruiters to find viable candidates, but it’s also a great way to show an employer that you’re well connected and versed in the space.

A recent Career Development event held by Advertising Women of New York addressed this subject for job seekers and media executives looking to build a professional reputation online. I gathered a few new pointers from fellow recruiter, Regina Angeles.

LinkedIn
You probably have an account on this site already, but so do 65 million other members. So how will you be found in the sea of profiles? Keywords.

When searching for candidates, recruiters and employers plug relevant keywords into LinkedIn’s search function and develop leads for potential candidates. If you’re profile isn’t chock full of all the important words that describe who you are and what you do, you’ll probably get lost in the shuffle. Think about what value you can add to an organization or department. Is it revenue generation? Team leadership? What are your key skill sets? Sponsorship sales? Cross-platform marketing? Get specific with your keywords and experiences and you’ll be on your way to optimizing your profile.

Another way to increase your visibility on this network is by getting your professional network to recommend you. With the click of a button, you can request a brief recommendation from your colleagues and clients. They serve as a quick reference guide for contacts in the industry and how well-respected you are. Also, having three or more recommendations makes you three-times as likely to pop up in search results. Take the time to request them; it’s worth it.

Twitter
You’ve heard about the importance of this social network a million times. Still struggling with how exactly it pertains to you? You’re not alone. But if you’re a job seeker, there are more than a few tangible ways that Twitter can help. Don’t be afraid to make an account and learn the ropes.

Angeles, multicultural recruiter and CEO of TALENT2050, offered great Twitter tips, like the new site www.tweetajob.com. Sign up to receive relevant job postings sent to your Twitter feed. Likewise, most big job boards have twitter accounts that you can follow to make your twitter feed a veritable real time feed of all new opportunities you might want.

Job Boards vs. Social Networks

Speaking of job boards, don’t forget about these tools as well. But dig deeper than Monster and CareerBuilder, there are a multitude of more focused niche sites (Angeles recommended IvyExec and Doostang.) But don’t just rely on seeking jobs, start seeking employers.

This is a point I make to candidates repeatedly and one that Angeles mentioned, too. Use sites like Linkedin to research companies rather than just positions. Find out about the kinds of companies you want to work for and use your professional network to find someone there to connect with. This is where the networking really comes into play.

Use LinkedIn and even Facebook to network as you would in the real world. Send people messages rather than passing a business card. Reach out to see if they can provide you with a helping hand. Getting your foot in the door is a lot more likely with a personal connection, while responding to a job posting on one of the big job boards rarely produces results.

Don’t Wait to Be Found

So you signed up for Facebook and LinkedIn and you made your first tweet. Why aren’t recruiters knocking down your door? You need to engage with social communities, not just become a stagnant member. Actively using these tools is key to making them work for you. Update your status on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter with a link to an interesting article. Start speaking to your network and they’ll speak back.

Angeles wisely emphasized knowing your audience within your social networks. Are you looking to find a job in digital media? Show that you know the space by sharing relevant information about news in the industry. Looking for consulting clients? Speak to that audience by establishing yourself as an expert in your field. Share valuable industry information, perhaps a blog post you wrote on new industry trends. (Hint: blogging is another great way to engage in social media. There are plenty of free sites to help you get started: wordpress.com, typepad.com, and blogger.com are just a few.)

Another great tip Angeles provided: Link your social media networks all together with a service like HootSuite. Update your status or post a link on one site and it will push the update to all of them, saving you time and making social networking more manageable for a busy schedule.

AWNY will be holding 2 more events on Career Development. Check out www.AWNY.org for more information.

Find out more about improving your social media presence at www.dearbev.com/services

Read the column on MediaPost.