Business

Social Media Roundup: What Your Job History Says About You

Hiring managers have stacks of résumés  to flip through. Here's how to frame your job history and, if lucky, land the interview. Plus: Leadership as an introvert, by an introvert.

Résumés get the three-second glance-over. And maybe less when the glaring red flags are, well, flagged. Here’s what you should know to make your job history stand out and get your résumé into that potential interview pile.

The details, and more, in today’s Social Media Roundup.

Top of the pile

Career chronicles: Too much time between jobs, too many jobs, or too little experience: You’d better have a good reason for those little red flags in your job history, as  U.S. News & World Report’s Alison Green notes. (It probably helps to make sure you’ve copy edited your résumé as well.) A résumé is the front cover to your job history, so use it to provide clear explanations for the gaps in your CV. Jot down that volunteer stint, that you tended to a personal family issue—anything that takes a potential employer’s “Oh?” to “Ah” when weighing whether or not your résumé gets tossed. If a short stint at a job was meant to be short, then write that in. Employers understand a four-month internship or contract work; the four months at a salaried position, however, may draw other questions. (ht @LHH)

Silence is golden

Power to the quiet one: John Chen, the National Association for Law Placement’s communications & marketing manager is a leader, just quieter than most. He’s an introvert, listening first and speaking after, he writes in a blog post, “Introvert Isn’t a Bad Word: My Ignite Recap,” a look back at his August Ignite session at ASAE’s 2013 Annual Meeting & Expo. Here’s video of Chen’s session:

Group meetings and discussion panels don’t work for the quieter crew, but anything that boosts one-on-one relationships can. Introverts aren’t shy; they just need time to digest and compose their thoughts, Chen says. Follow-up phone calls and emails are preferred to interactive group settings. “I can communicate verbally, but only when I have something important to say,” he writes. “When introverts speak up, it’s usually worth listening.” (ht @johnYSchen

What links are you sharing today? Let us know in the comments below.

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Emma Beck

By Emma Beck

Emma Beck is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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