« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
February 26, 2008
Rethinking Resumes
I’ve been reviewing resumes of applicants for eSight’s “Online Networking as a Job Search Tool” for two years now.
Resumes are on my mind because this Friday, February 29, is the deadline for completing the application and submitting your resume for eSight’s March 12, 2008, through May 6, 2008, eLearning Program, "Online Networking as a Job Search Tool."
There’s still time to apply for this eLearning Program, but you need to do it now.
And please pass the information about “Online Networking as a Job Search Tool” to friends and acquaintances who can benefit from this unique eLearning experience. Be sure to reference the informational link at http://www.esight.org/view.cfm?x=1968
One of the conclusions I’ve drawn by working with a wide variety of eLearners through eSight’s online networking course is this:
Many of us need to rethink how we want to present ourselves via a resume in the light of how human resources people and hiring managers are using today’s technology to decide who to interview for a job, a course etc.
I’ve found that the resume I wrote for myself four years ago is, at best, out-of-date and, worst of all, not relevant to what decision makers need in today’s job market.
If you are feeling the same way about your resume, then I urge you to apply for one of the few seats we still have open for "Online Networking as a Job Search Tool,” an eight-week eLearning opportunity I’m sure you’ll find helpful.
Here’s why: This course offers you personal coaching to develop not only your resume but also research companies, build contact lists, develop an offering statement, create a JIST Card, create your personal brand, develop an ePortfolio and hone your networking skills.
Those are the key tools you need today to get an interview for the job that’s right for you.
One of the many resources this online class will use is a panel discussion involving with Deb Dib, Megan Fitzgerald and Bernadette Martin -- all career coaches and personal branding specialists.
Deb notes the trend toward one or two page resumes (instead of three or four). Resumes, she says, must:
- 1. Show the value and strategic impact of what you’ve done on previous jobs.
- 2. Be tied to proof you cite in your portfolio through case
studies etc. - 3. Lead off with your branding (offering) statement.
That kind of resume takes work and practice in what Deb calls “career writing” -- a skill I can help you develop in "Online Networking as a Job Search Tool."
You can learn about Deb and each one of the other panelists for the discussion about “Branding Your Resume, Bio or CV: Trends and Tips.”
You can also listen to an audio tape of this panel discussion.
In the light of that discussion about branding your resume, please reply to this question:
What is the most important thing you now realize needs changing in your present resume?
Posted by Jim Hasse at 11:57 AM | Comments (1)
February 19, 2008
Tapping the Power of Words, Actions
Last week, I cited Professor MacDougall’s explanation of how people with disabilities have come from the “deaf and dumb” era to today’s focus on “super crips” (extraordinary human beings doing ordinary things which people tend to label “exceptional”).
I think his historical framework shows how complicated tearing down stubborn perceptions about disability (and converting a worn-out language) can be.
I'm encouraged by the personal-experience stories I'm receiving from job seekers with disabilities who are saying, "Goodbye," to a truly prejudiced prospective employer.
Here's another bit of good news. Most of the barriers job seekers with disabilities face in the job market seem to stem from lack of information or knowledge about disability employment issues -- not prejudice. Those who hold onto a belief in spite of overwhelming proof to the opposite are prejudiced.
But, here's the best news of all. Job seekers with disabilities can tackle fear and ignorance among the prospective employers they visit as part of their job searches. Job hunting is a one-on-one game. We don't have to launch a massive campaign to change the myths held by 300 million Americans about disability and how they relate to employment.
It just takes work and insight on a one-to-one basis. It’s no small task, but it's doable.However, your comments during the last few days have made me realize there’s more than one way to gain a better understanding of our disabilities among the people with which we play and work.
Do words count more than actions in this regard?
Here’s a sampling of last week’s comments from people who believe words play a key role in how people with disabilities are perceived.
Liz writes:
“I think words can and do hurt you. I have a friend who is working at a nationally known non-profit in Ontario. Her boss does not call her by her given name but calls her 'Gimpy.'
“My friend has a problem with her knee. She's not fully disabled. It's a temporary thing. Being called 'Gimpy' in front of not only her fellow workers but also the consumers of this non-profit gives off the impression that it's OK to use disparaging terms about someone who is disabled. It's the old 'Oh, can't you take a joke?' mentality when, in reality, this organization is geared to those with intellectual impairments and those involved should know better.”
Liz adds:
“At the moment, I'm reading Eckhardt Tolle's book, ‘The New Earth,’ and, on pages 50 and 51, he makes a very interesting point that I believe speaks to last week’s observations.
"’Equating the physical-sense … body that is destined to grow old, wither and die with ‘I’ always leads to suffering sooner or later. To refrain from identifying with the body doesn't mean that you neglect, despise or no longer care for it. If it is strong, beautiful or vigorous, you can enjoy and appreciate those attributes while they last. You can also improve the body's condition through right nutrition and exercise.
“’If you don't equate the body with who you are, when beauty fades, vigor diminishes or the body becomes incapacitated, your sense of worth or identity … will not be affected. In fact, as the body begins to weaken, the formless dimension (the light of consciousness) can shine more easily through the fading form.
“’It is not just people with good or near perfect bodies who are likely to equate it with who they are. You can just as easily identify with a ‘problematic’ body and make the body's imperfection, illness or disability into your identity. You may think and speak of yourself as a ‘sufferer’ of this or that chronic illness or disability… You then unconsciously cling to the illness because it has become the most important part of who you perceive yourself to be. It has become another thought from which the ego can identify. Once the ego has found an identity, it does not want to let go.’
“So, in order to not let others give us an identity with words that we do not wish to be, we must confront those who use words that don’t clearly communicate the facts or are demeaning or offensive.”
Kathy notes:
“’Handicap’ conjures up an image of someone on the street corner with 'cap in hand,' begging for handouts and charity. Various disability rights publications like to tie the ‘cap in hand’ image to the word ‘handicap.’ If you consult an authoritative source such as the Oxford English Dictionary, you will find nothing in the derivation to support this association. There is enough misinformation about disability; we don't need to perpetuate this one.”
Unlike Liz and Kathy, however, some believe words are not as relevant as actions in the attempt each one of us launches to gain “equal dignity” in the eyes of others.
Barney, for instance, writes:
“…Our actions and the actions of others speak far louder than any words anyone can ever say about me. I honestly have neither the time nor the energy to engage in a battle over semantics. I am happy to teach folks about the correct way, but, in the end, I am more interested in how I am treated.”
Jim Elekes agrees with Barney:
“The process of language is complex and, quite often, unintentional. What of the terms ‘white space,’ ‘black ice’ and ‘yellow journalism?’ Are we to presume these terms are derived from an attempted distain for specific racial characteristics? I think not…
“Let's not lose focus on the primary issues at hand: enhanced employment opportunity, equitable/fair treatment and one's individual self-worth. Without these, there is no foothold on which to step-up to other incidentals on the sidelines.”
Maybe picking the path to putting your disability into a perspective that works best for you depends on your circumstances, your personality and your temperament.
For a little bit more about how I have personally handled this issue, read “The Backdoor Into Adulthood.”
What have you done in your own life to break through the misunderstanding about your disability that language sometimes perpetuates?
Posted by Jim Hasse at 01:04 PM | Comments (3)
February 13, 2008
Tearing Down Disability Language Barriers
Liz Seger writes:
“Recently in the Toronto Star newspaper the public
education editor wrote an editorial asking why terms
like ‘blind alley’ or ‘falling on deaf ears’ in
reporters' pieces are considered discriminatory
after a complaint by a member of the Canadian
Hearing Society.“The editor considered it more of a 'style'
discussion for the editorial staff rather than
something about inclusion and discrimination around
the words people use that may be demeaning to those
of us with disabilities…
“What is frustrating to me is that most of society has evolved enough to not call people derogatory names when it relates to race, religion, ethnicity and they get pretty upset about it, but it still seems OK to talk about and to people with disabilities like they are invisible and not mentally competent.”Glenda Watson Hyatt puts this issue of disability
language in perspective in a 2005 article, “What Is in
a Word?” for SPARC BC News. In that article, she
writes:“An indicator of a society’s regard for the disabled
lays in the terms used to label them."For example, in English, invalid means 'not valid'
or 'not acceptable.' Handicap conjures up an image
of someone on the street corner with 'cap in hand,'
begging for handouts and charity."These labels degrade individuals by focusing on
their differences or incapabilities rather than on
the individuals themselves.“Until recently, the prevalent model of disability
has been the medical model in which the disabled
person is seen as the problem. In the late 1980’s,
largely influenced by people with disabilities
themselves who argued that disability is a socially
constructed concept and society itself creates the
disability, there was a shift from the medical model
to the social model. In this model, prejudice,
discrimination, and inaccessible environments are
the disabling factors -- not the medical
conditions."Glenda points out that the medical model, however, is
still alive and there is still some distance to go
before people with disabilities are acknowledged as
equals in society.For example, she writes, “Able-bodied individuals
exercise, workout, and have personal fitness trainers,
while individuals with disabilities get rehab,
therapy, and have physiotherapists."Why is disability language, especially in the
workplace, so important?According to the Harvard psychologist, Steven Pinker,
in his book, “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a
Window into Human Nature,” people are "verbivores, a
species that lives on words."He continues:
“If you want to understand how the brain works, how
it thinks about space and causation and time, how it
processes emotions and engages in social
interactions, then you need to plunge ‘down the
rabbit hole’ of language. The quirks of our
sentences are merely a portal to the mind.”In short, “Words and their rules don't tell us about the world; they tell us about ourselves,” writes Jonah Lehrer in the Washington Post’s Book World. Words show us how we feel.
Below is an explanation that I find interesting about how words work by Jamie C. MacDougall, associate professor, Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal:
"Until very recently, philosophers, psychologists and
others concerned with epistemology (the theory of
knowledge) held a standard view concerning how we
perceive reality. The basic idea is that we know the
world mainly through sight and touch. When we see
something, we expect to be able to touch it. Unless
you are a bat using echolocation, hearing was mainly
reserved for communication."This point of view led to the powerful illusion that
our eyes were not only involved in sensory
processes but perception and higher order cognitive
processes as well. Similarly, the ear not only
processed sound waves but was also involved in
understanding language and thinking. This view is
considered 'common sense' even today."However, intensive research –- particularly in the
area of cognitive neuroscience -- has shown this view
to be completely false. We now know that it is the
brain that does the heavy lifting as far as higher
order processing involving perception of reality,
linguistic processing and thinking. The eyes and
ears and our other senses, while complex, are but
the messengers bringing information to the brain for
processing. There the information undergoes many
transformations arousing complex memories, feelings
and emotions..."What does all this mean for the problem of
disability metaphors? The answer is simple. A large
part of why blind and deaf people were so
misunderstood in the past can be related directly to
our misunderstanding of what the eyes and ears
actually do. If you think with conviction that the
eye is the only window to reality then, if you can’t
see, you will be hopelessly confused and have little
capacity for understanding even the simplest things.
"Similarly, for the deaf, lack of hearing meant lack
of understanding language. Since language was
thought to be intimately related to thought, it was
only a short leap of logic to declare that the deaf
were mentally deficient -- a mental state nicely
captured by the now outmoded term ‘deaf and dumb.’"No one should be surprised, therefore, that language
reflected this misunderstanding for about two
thousand years. The Bible is full of metaphors like
the “blind leading the blind,” and Shakespeare and
other literacy giants are close behind. Margaret
Atwood has a book called "The Blind Assassin," and I
don’t know anyone who thinks she is prejudiced
against blind people. She is just following a well-
worn literary path with no intention of malice."Probably the first major assault on this failed line
of thought was the appearance of Helen Keller, who
was, of course, both deaf and blind. Such was her
accomplishment that, according to all reports, her
global fame was rivaled only by Albert Einstein.
Why? Because she was living proof that it was the
brain, not the eyes and ears, that was important."In view of this, one would have thought the standard
view of the primacy of the senses would have been
thoroughly smashed, but what seemed to happen was
that her astonishing abilities were seen as super
human -- even miraculous (not of this world). An
unfortunate aspect of this view is the lingering
idea that people with a disability should strive to
reach this unworldly level and somehow 'overcome'
their disability against all odds."To summarize, the standard view is that the senses
do all the perceiving and thinking. If you lose the
sense -- well, you have diminished capacity, but, if
you try real hard, you will find other ways to
compensate."(The) language that incorporates this outmoded view
has been around for so long and is so thoroughly
embedded in all our everyday thinking and great
literature that there is no reason to give it up."In fact, we would be giving up a substantial part
of our literary heritage and collective identity.
Those involved in the long struggle to eliminate
sexist language will find this a familiar refrain..."(But), if science can convince us that the earth is not
the center of the universe -- something the Catholic
Church only recently grudgingly admitted 300 years
after Galileo’s passing, then why not that our
senses, while important, are not the real story. It
is the magnificent brain. That’s where all the real
action is. Blind people, deaf people, people who use
wheelchairs and all others with a disability,
whether physical or mental, have functioning brains
-- that’s what makes them human."Here's your opportunity to help tear down disability
language barriers. Please think about what these five
people above have said and then reply to this
question:What is the most misleading description of your
disability you have encountered during your
pursuit of meaningful work?Posted by Jim Hasse at 09:47 AM | Comments (5)
February 06, 2008
Take Advantage of These Unique Opportunities
Thanks to all of you who completed our January survey
about which new content on eSight during 2008 would be most useful to you in finding meaningful employment.See a summary of what you told us.
These survey results tell me you’re most interested in
learning how to do these things (in priority order):1. Identify your accomplishments for employers.
2. Conduct an effective job search.
3. Do well in job interviews.
You have five additional interests, which you consider
secondary but still very important (again in priority
order):4. Learning how to network effectively.
5. Writing an effective resume.
6. Gaining inclusion in the workplace.
7. Developing confidence so you can reach out.
8. Dealing with a difficult boss.
If you did not complete the January survey or have
additional ideas about how eSight can best serve you
this year, please post your preferences for eSight content/services in the form at the end of this entry.The first three interests identified by our January
survey takers are fundamental for navigating today’s
job market, and eSight will be emphasizing those
during the coming months, using a variety of learning
methods.For a start, see this week’s featured article, “eSight
Quick Step: Identifying Accomplishments,” in Career
Management Resources.That feature leads you through a series of articles for
examining your experience and identifying your key
success factors, which can serve as a foundation for
presenting yourself effectively during your job search
and during job interviews.For those who feel confident about how to use basic
job search tools but who are looking for new ways to
develop a more effective resume and to network within
the online environment, I have an additional
suggestion: apply for eSight’s spring 2008 course
about “Online Networking as a Job Search tool.”This eight-week course actually addresses most of the
eight topics you have identified in the January
survey. It’s an opportunity to learn how to create
your personal brand, build your e-Portfolio, and
cultivate your contacts to find the internship or job
that's right for you.It’s all hands-on and competency-based, and I
facilitate it, giving each eLearner eSight selects as
a participant lots of individual attention.And you can do it all without leaving your keyboard.
But you need to act fast. Applications are due now for
the spring class, which runs March 5, 2008 through
April 29, 2008. The deadline for submitting all
application material is February 11, 2008.Check the course details and the online application form.
Space for this course is very limited. And the
selection process is rigorous. But you may be at just
the right stage in your career where you’ll benefit
the most from this training. The only way to find out
is to apply right now.If you did not complete the January survey or have
additional ideas about how eSight can best serve you
this year, please submit your eSight content/service
preferences below. I would really like to receive your thoughts.
Posted by Jim Hasse at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)