So You Need to Prepare a Resume…now what? Just for the fun of it, I googled “resume writing tips”…I received 21,950,000 hits. Wow, how in the world do you decipher all of that information? Where do you begin? What is right? What is wrong? I perused though the pages and found numerous articles on Top 10 Resume Writing Tips, Top 5, even a Top 44. All of these promised to produce a killer resume. I am not so sure that there are 5 or 10 or even 44 tips that will produce the perfect resume for everyone.
I firmly believe that a resume has to be personal…it must tell the personal story of the writer addressing the needs of the potential employer. That’s it…its pretty simple. Well, it’s not quite all that easy. Here are a few suggestions that I believe could help you prepare a good resume:
• Be yourself…your resume needs to reflect who you are, not who you think the company wants to hire. This is a mistake that is often made by many. No one is the perfect candidate; although we may think we are…we all have flaws and imperfections. Be yourself and make sure that your resume reflects you.

• Be professional…there is a professional appearance to resumes that should be followed. Review resumes on line and use a professional template to format your resume. There are plenty of free ones available. Also, professional language should be used for in describing your achievements, experience and education.

• Be truthful…often times, there is a temptation to enhance or embellish previous experience. Be careful not to “enhance” achievements, experience or education. Resume “enhancements” will be revealed in an interview and may lose the opportunity for you.

• Be clear…think through what you are going to put on resume. Be clear…don’t beat around the bush, so to speak. Be direct and right to the point. For example, when listing accomplishments, use phrases such as:

o served to Team Leader,
o cut scrap by 48%,
o increased sales by11%,
o recognized as Employee of the Month,
o etc.

• Be concise…write in terms of bullets rather than long paragraphs. It is much easier to read and also, highlights your strengths.

• Be organized…don’t jump around. Organize both your education and work history in a chronological format…from latest to oldest. Be careful not to let the short term positions overshadow the long term positions. If there is a period of time that you help several temporary positions, group them together as “Temporary Positions” and briefly summarize the responsibilities.

• Be personable…let “yourself” show through your resume. You want the person who is going to review your resume to have a mental picture of you after he or she is finished reading it. It is his or her “take away” about you that is important. By building your resume properly, you can paint your personal picture. You want to show how each position and resulting experience built upon on another. Also, you want to point out your successes in position where you flourished.

You need to recognize the overall objective of the resume. That is, to demonstrate to the potential employer your experience and education in such a manner that it will get you an interview. Somehow, you need to set yourself apart from the other applicants. Recently, I was told by one employer, it was not uncommon for him to receive upwards of 80 resumes for a local position. Wow, keep in mind, that you need to construct your resume in such a way that it rises to the top of a stack of eighty.

What a great resource for those looking for a job!

As I work with those who are looking for a job or a career change, I have found Indeed.com to be a tremendous tool. The concept is that it takes the key words used in your job search and delivers job openings directly to your inbox each morning. I have been running an experiment for the past couple of weeks by putting in some key words that I would use if I were looking for a new job today. The results were pretty amazing…

• 15 to 20 jobs for General Manager
• 10 to 20 jobs for Administrator
• 20+ jobs for Manager
• 10 to 15 jobs for Director
• 25+ jobs for Technician
• 15 jobs for Executive
• 10 jobs for Teaching
• 20+ jobs for Non-profit

I set up my “job search” criteria to search for jobs within a 50 mile radius of Greenwood, SC.

If you are looking for a new job or considering a career change, check out this site http://www.indeed.com

Ricky was here in the coffee shop at 5:00 am this morning…he is making coffee for our Men’s Fraternity group. Rick has a tremendous servant’s heart. He oversees pretty much all aspects of our facilities from scheduling events, to maintenance, to care, to set up and take down. Take some time in the near future and notice how neat and orderly things are around here at North Side…notice how clean things are as well. Ricky has been on staff here at North Side for nearly 15 years. When you see Ricky thank him for the work that he does for our church.

Ricky’s side job is taking care of our senior adults…you can always find him helping someone out in one way or another.

Ricky is the guy to contact for any events here at North Side.

Where is your place in ministry? Do you know how God has gifted and equipped you to serve Him? Here is “OG”…he has what I call a “servant’s heart”. He shows up here at North Side a day or two each week to help out where ever he can be of service. Today, he shredded a huge pile of paper for us…then he had to clean up the mess that he had made…you got it…small shreds of paper all over the place. The job wasn’t finished until “OG” pulled out the vacuum and cleaned up the mess. A shredder and a vacuum cleaner may not be your giftedness, but what about helping out with children, preschoolers, students, senior adults, etc?

God has gifted and equipped us with various abilities and passions as well as life experiences to serve Him and grow His Kingdom. At North Side, we use a great tool…PLACE Assessment Tool provided by PLACE Ministries…here’s the link http://www.northsidebc.org/place/. The activation code is GEGEYFYNEA.

It is an assessment tool that can be taken on line and the results can be reviewed immediately. Call or email me after you have taken the assessment and we will get you an appointment with one of our counselors to explain the results with you. Our system is  designed to assess and place people into ministry.  Here is the acronym for PLACE:

P – Personality Blends

L – Spiritual Gifts

A – Abilities

C – Passions

E – Life Experiences

This is a great tool…check it out! Let us help you find your place in ministry.

Safe Ministry Boundaries

The following boundaries have been established for the Pastoral staff of North Side Baptist Church when ministering to members of the opposite sex. The purpose of these boundaries is to allow the pastoral staff in effective ministry while protecting the integrity and reputation of ourselves, North Side Baptist Church, and the person that we are ministering to.

• Limit number of counseling sessions to 3 times, after which the person needing additional counseling should be referred to a professional Christian counselor.

• Avoid going out for a meal with an individual of the opposite sex, unless another staff member or spouse is present.

• Avoid ministering after office hours with an individual of the opposite sex, unless another staff member or spouse is present.

• Avoid ministering off campus, with an individual of the opposite sex, unless another staff member or spouse is present.

• Avoid travel with an individual of the opposite sex, unless another staff member or spouse is present.

• Avoid verbal or nonverbal sexual behavior.

• Avoid intimate communication, i.e. phone, letters, email, text messages, etc. with an individual of the opposite sex.

• Avoid developing inappropriate, intimate relationships with an individual of the opposite sex.

Here are my results…it nailed me.

Transitions is a ministry to equip and encourage pastors. The reality is over 70% of our Southern Baptist churches have either plateaued or are declining. Churches are dying. Pastors are discouraged. The ministry was launched through a day long workshop led by Jeff for pastors of the Laurens Baptist Association. Jeff shared his 25 years of experience of leading Kingdom change in the local church with 15 pastors and the Director of Missions. The information was insightful and well received by the attendees. Jeff, in the way only he can do, encouraged the pastors to continue to do what God had called them to do in ministry.  The result…pastors were encouraged and left with some food for thought for an action plan.

Resources will be provided to pastors through our Transitions blog on the North Side website. Watch for updates.

This ministry has been on the hearts of our leadership team for years. It is now a reality and we can’t wait to see what God will be doing through it. Please pray for this new ministry.

This week, I have been especially burdened by the endurance required of pastors. It has been another tough week as I once again we have heard of several discouraged pastors who have resigned their positions with no place to go. It must be a pretty desperate situation when a pastor says “I can no longer endure the stress, hardship or adversity” of the local church and resigns without another position. The writer of Hebrews (some scholars think that this may have been the Apostle Paul) provides encouragement…

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of  faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb 12:1-3 (NASB)

Endurance comes through fixing our eyes on Jesus. Amen!

However, we too can play a role…by encouraging our pastors and praying for them daily!

He is the father of five children and was the sole provider. Mom stayed home and kept us kids and the house in order. Dad’s vocation was called a “Machine Repairman” for a large forging company. This company actually provided all of the large ring fittings for the Alaskan pipeline. The fittings were 10 to 12 feet in diameter, so you can just imagine the size of the machines it took to manufacturer them He used to tell  us that some of these machines were larger than our two story house. Huge! His responsibility was to figure out what went wrong when a machine did not work and then fix it. He would work tirelessly when one of these machines went down until the problem was found, repairs made and the machine was back up running.

Dad never complained about his job…he just did it. He never had aspirations of greener pastures or climbing the corporate ladder. In fact, several times during his 30+ year with this company, he was encouraged to move into a supervisory or management position. Dad would say: “Nope…that’s not for me…too many headaches…I just want to fix the machines”. He retired after 30 something years as a machine repairman. Dad did not complain…he just did his job…no matter the task or what it took…he did his job…that was what he was paid to do…so he did it.

There were times when I helped Dad with some repair or renovation around the house or some side job that he was hired to do. It was during those times Dad would say, “Kenny, if you are going to do something, you have to do it right. If you are going to work for someone, you have to do the job that you promised them…no shortcuts”.

I thought about these conversations with my Dad this morning as I was putting in some new kitchen light fixtures for Gail. I installed one without any problems…but the second one was a little persnickety. When I finally had it installed, i realized that I left out a very important part…the cover for the electrical box that I installed in the ceiling. For a fleeting moment,I considered just leaving the cover off…after all no one would ever know but me.  Then, I thought about the words of my Dad…”Kenny, if you are going to do something, you have to do it right. If you are going to work for someone, you have to do the job that you promised them…no shortcuts”. I took the fixture apart, installed the box cover and did the job right!

As I was finishing up the job with some touch-up paint, Colossians 3:23-25 came to mind…

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,  knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.  For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

It may be a stretch to make a direct application on my little job to the verse…but I do believe there is an overriding spiritual application to do whatever we do as if we are doing it for the Lord.

My goal in this life is just that…to do whatever I do as if I were doing it for the Lord. Imagine the work ethic!  I am not there yet. But, what if we all approached our jobs, our marriages, our families, our relationships and our service with Colossians 3:23-25 in mind?

Ummm….wouldn’t  that be “giving our life away” as Jesus taught us?