NEW Podcast: Functional Resume Helps Tell Your Story

The team at InStep Consulting continues our NEW podcast series called InSide the HR Studio. This special series features senior corporate HR leaders who provide an insiders perspective on career transition and success.



Our current guest InSide the HR Studio is Patrice Funderburg, Manager of Diversity & Inclusion for Lowe's Companies, Inc. Patrice has direct responsibility for integration of Lowe's Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and Operating Platform, with a specific focus on diversity staffing, retention programs and measurement, as well as supplier diversity initiatives.


In the podcast, Patrice and I discuss how you can increase your marketability with a Functional Resume. We share strategies to help create working documents that encourages an interviewer to draw the right conclusions and ask questions that help you talk about your BEST skills.



So, take a listen and let me know what you think! To help you create your BEST CV, we're also in the process of launching a NEW Resume Review service. EMAIL us if you'd like to get more information on this new service.

Know the 9 Early Warning Signs that Stress is Negatively Impacting Your Life?

It's Your Time to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life! This is the theme of 2009 National Women's Health Week, a health observance from May 10-16 coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH) to empower women to make our health a top priority. Important steps include:

• Getting at least 2 ½ hours of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week.
• Eating a nutritious diet.
• Visiting a health care professional for regular checkups and preventive screenings.
• Avoiding risky behaviors, like smoking and not wearing a seatbelt.
• Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.

It is also important to be aware of warning signs that stress (about finances, job status, personal life) may be adversely affecting your emotional or mental well being --or that of someone you care about. These signs include:

1. Persistent Sadness/Crying
2. Excessive Anxiety
3. Lack of Sleep/Constant Fatigue
4. Excessive Irritability/Anger
5. Increased drinking
6. Illicit drug use, including misuse of medications
7. Difficulty paying attention or staying focused
8. Apathy - not caring about things that are usually important to you
9. Not being able to function as well at normal tasks

If you or someone you care about is experiencing these symptoms, you are not alone. These are common reactions to stress, and there are coping techniques that you can use to help manage it. These techniques include ways to:

• Manage your reaction (e.g., deep breathing, meditation and positive thinking); or to
• Re-think your situation (e.g., creative visualization, journaling, self-esteem building).
• You can also take positive action to change your situation - on your own, or with the help of a coach or counselor (e.g., problem solving, communication role-plays, goal-setting, action planning).

Women are often the caregivers for our spouses, children, and parents and we forget to focus on our own health. But research shows that when we women take care of ourselves, the health of our family (and our community) improves.

I thought we can use some inspiration to Spring Cleanse ourselves for a healthier mindset. So, I found an article by Swami Saradananda about the yoga principle of Saucha (physical and mental purification). Enjoy - and here's to your health! :)

Get Career Tips from HR InSiders - NEW Podcast Series

I’m delighted to announce the launch of a NEW podcast series called InSide the HR Studio. Now that the rules of the game in the workplace are in constant flux, I’m hosting this special podcast series with senior HR leaders who will provide an insiders perspective on career transition and offer relevant tips on how to succeed in today’s workplace.

Our first guest InSide the HR Studio is Bernie Frazier, Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Fleishman-Hillard, a global PR consultancy. Based in St. Louis, Bernie manages all recruiting efforts for Fleishman in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, South America and Australia. In addtion to being responsible for their U.S. immigration program, she also manages employee relations and a team of corporate recruiters.

In the podcast, Bernie and I discuss how companies have changed their recruiting strategies, and are using different ways and places to advertise open positions, and new strategies to source candidates. Bernie also shares specific tips to enhance your LinkedIn profile and leverage Twitter to increase your visibility in your industry. For example, Fleishman Hillard started using Twitter to post job opportunities, and recently hired someone via Twitter.

Want to learn TweetDeck can help you in your job search? Then, tune in to the podcast!

Bernie shares some tips to help you "think like a recruiter, not a candidate" as you network: "Don’t be too aggressive or too desperate; hold on to your confidence. Recruiters are overburdened nowadays, so be sensitive."

After you listen to the podcast, if you want to learn more about career opportunities at Fleishman-Hillard visit: http://www.fleishman.com/. Or, check out their Stand Out Blog with more thoughts from their recruiters at: http://standout.fleishmanhillard.com/.