Marketing Me! Certification over compensation?

While checking the visitor logs, I noticed a Google search for "add Microsoft certification after name in signature file" as a search string.

Hmmm...

Please, let me blunt.

How many MBA's include

John Smith Harvard MBA in their signature file?

Okay, how many people with ordinary college degrees include

John Smith BA History State U.?

More obtuse, does an astronaut sign his name, Buzz Aldrin, (CMA) Certified Moon Astronaut?

Another question, do a Google search and find how many people sign their name, John Smith MCP/MCSE/etc? A whole bunch I'll bet. If so, how will you stand out?

Try this instead!

John Smith
Exceptional Microsoft IT Innovator and Outstanding Support Resource

There. Doesn't that have more panache?

BTW - Some professions demand a smattering of initials or abbreviations after a name. PhD or (ret.) come to mind as notable exceptions.

For the rest of us, we need to be more original on our "personal shingles".

Happy hunting!

Marketing Me! Resume Assistance

In the email box, a software based service which promises to get your resume "to the top of the heap". How enticing.

A conversation with a business colleague; an anecdote about a friend in the tech industry who hides industry related keywords in white font heavily throughout his resume. His rationale for doing so? That most resumes are scanned electronically and his hidden keywords will place him at the top of the hiring manager's list.

Look, these tricks may help get a resume in the "pile", but they are no guarantee of employment. Employment and steady work are the goal, not getting to the top of the "pile".

Networking, done correctly and constantly, results in less employment downtime.

Networking means more opportunity before and after the hire date.

Play resume games if you will, but concentrate on your personal network and leave the games, piles and heaps to the amateurs.

Happy hunting!