Thursday, November 17, 2011

Selling Yourself On Paper - What does your resume say about you?

For many years I have helped friends and family "sell themselves" on paper. I would write their resumes (and often times  their coverletters as well). I never understood why so many people dread writing resumes and coverletters. This is the one and maybe only opportunity to get noticed by a recruiter--to stand out and get a face-to-face meeting with a prospective employer.

This activity should be approached with energy and enthusiasm!

The recruiter should be knocked over by the words that (though professionally written and layed out) demonstrate your energy, enthusiasm and most importantly relevant skills and talents. How we approach a writing assignment will often be felt by the reader. If you dread writing the document, your dread will come through in every word. Each becoming increasingly more and more difficult to endure until the reader finally gives up and puts your document aside. I admit it! It doesn't take long for me discard a document when I feel my energy shrinking while reading someone lackluster work--especially in resume and/or coverletter form.

If you are actively seeking employment, whether due to job loss, dissatisfaction or need for a change, you must sell yourself! Unlike in years past when there were far more jobs than qualified people to fill them, today there are not only fewer jobs than qualified people, there are oftentimes hundreds of highly-qualified people vying for the same job. How do you compete?

Your resume and coverletter should speak to the needs of the employer and have him saying,
"This is the one!"

Have you ever had a prospective employer say at the start of an interview, "I feel I already know you"?  I have! I don't mean to imply that you should use pink paper, spray perfume on the envelope or any of the other countless unprofessional moves I have seen jobseekers make in an effort to stand out. You are looking to get hired, not to get a date!  Allow your personality to shine through while demonstrating that you have the skills, talents and energy to exceed their expectations.

Here are a few tips:
  •  Read the job announcement two or three times. Then ask yourself these questions:
    • Does this job fit into my overall career goal?
    • Do I really have the skills they are looking for?
    • Can I highlight in a coverletter at least two relevant experiences related to their needs?
  • If you answer yes to each of these questions, you should apply!.
  • Review your resume and make any necessary changes so that the recruiter can easily see your relevant skills and experience.
  • Draft a customized coverletter. This is your opportunity to "speak" to the recruiter. Nothing is worse than reading a generic coverletter. When it comes to the job search (and most everything else), laziness is your enemy! Won't the 15-20 minutes that it will take for your to write, proofread and edit a customized letter be well worth it when you hear "You're hired"? So invest the time.
If you are in the job market, try using these tips and let me know how it works out.

Michelle Nusum
The Word Woman

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Power of the Written Word

This evening, like most, I drove home listening to The Marc Steiner Show on Morgan State University's WEAA (88.9FM). And like every show, Marc chose a thought-provoking topic and had two incredible guests to help him lead the discussion. The first hour (he usually has two topics within the 2-hour show) was a mind-tickling discussion entitled, "The Legacy of Uncle Tom's Cabin 100 years after its publication". Marc’s guests were David Reynolds, author of Mightier Than The Sword: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America and Annette Gordon-Reed, Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.

The discussion, which included listener participation, covered the book's legacy, from the controversial character of Uncle Tom to the abolitionist activism of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Many credit Stowe, a 19th Century white woman, with authoring a narrative that influenced the abolishment of slavery in America. Who would have ever imagined that an anti-slavery novel written by a White woman in 19th Century America could have scholars suggesting it “helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War”?

Tonight as I listened intently to callers celebrate the novel and its influence on individuals (both Black and White), politics, and the literary community, I could not help but think about the many literary works I have read over the years and how so many of them influenced me and the world around me. From Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young Gift and Black, which told me I was someone whose talents and unique perspectives could change the world, to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, which told me that we all struggle, we all need our loved ones and at the end of the day…in America those with money (power) can run over those without it. Hmmm…while Steinbeck’s story is set in the 1930’s, it could have easily been written in the past few years –poor people driven out of their homes as part of “progress”. Sound familiar?

There are countless written works that have stay with me years after I read them. They haven’t all be “deep”. But after reading each one, I was in some way changed. Whether optimism, anger, warmth (I love a great romance!), or empowerment from new knowledge that influenced my personal and/or professional achievements, there was an impact. I read words and something magical happened! No wonder during my childhood I spent countless hours reading books (as my sisters watched TV and played games). Now that I think about it, written words and my imagination have always been a powerful combination! I have traveled to faraway places and “seen” what others only imagined.

And now I write for living! Though I spend most of my days writing grant proposals, I ultimately tell stories. I aim to have prospective funders read my words and have a magical experience. Whether down the road or hundreds of miles away, I aim to have the reader “see” the organization accomplishing what we propose and the people whose lives are changed because we could—with their support.

How has the written word affected you? Tell me about the written works that have had the greatest impact on you. Do you write? What do you write about? What is it that you are looking for your readers to “see”?

Michelle Nusum,
The Word Woman   





Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Welcome to The Word Woman blog!

Hi there,

Welcome! I'm Michelle Nusum, CEO of The Word Woman, a consulting firm I founded to assist emerging and established nonprofit organizations as well as government agencies in achieving their missions and goals for public good.  Passionate about nonprofits, I have dedicated nearly 20 years to the industry. And over the past two decades, I have learned that there are many organizations that do an excellent job in communicating their missions, their needs, their accomplishments and their plans for the future. Kudos to you all! But I have also learned that there are countless others that fall short in achieving their communication goals. This is especially challenging for emerging nonprofits. These are the passionate people who genuinely want to make a difference. Perhaps you are one of them? You have secured your 501(c)3 status from the IRS and you are ready to go, right? But can you answer these critically important questions – Who? What? When? How?

Whether seeking support from an individual, foundation, corporation or governmental agency, every nonprofit must be able to explain clearly (and succinctly) who they are; who they serve; what they do; when they do it; and how they do it.  Always, but especially in these tough economic times, we must be ready to tell our story with concise and precise brevity. Opportunities to make our case to prospective supporters are few and far between.

If you do not take the time to develop clear responses to: Who? What? When? How?, when these questions are presented to you, you will find yourself rambling (verbally or in writing) and no one wants to do that!

Words can be our friends or our enemies. It is all in how we use them. Taking the time to figure out in advance how best to describe your organization and what you want to accomplish will ensure that the right words will flow when the time comes to use them.