Mistakes I Should Remember

Scot Herrick’s BizBlog » Blog Archive » Beliefs: Learning at the Deli

2006-10-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Scot Herrick’s BizBlog » Blog Archive » Beliefs: Learning at the Deli

This is a good list of questions to help avoind the "hermit" mindset. Maybe I can even keep them in mind as I go about my business.

RTFM or how to Mess up a simple install

2006-08-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of trying to develop test senarios for both VMware and Xen. The plan is to use the virtual environment as a test tool for the work I do at Intel.

During the first couple of attempts to install my first appliance in VMware ESX 3.0, I couldn't get the VM system to boot from the CD. Finally I opened the installation guide and, low and behold, there was the answer to the problem. I had missed a check box in the creation process to make the CD available at boot time. DUH!

You would think that after 15 years in this business I would have realized there was a simple gotcha after the first failure.

RTFM has almost been a mantra for me with my contract employees and here I was, doing exactly what I cautioned them against on a regular basis.

This made me realize that what was good advice to others was golden to me as well.

The VMs are running well and the installation process is almost painless now. To think I could have saved a whole day's effort by following my own admonitions.

Top Five Resume Mistakes

2006-06-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

From <a href="http://www.workplacelife.com/2006/06/08/top-five-resume-mistakes/">Workplace Life.com</a>

I am guilty of at least 2 of these, now fixed after reading this article.

The resume: gateway to your future, toll booth on the road to
success, and many more interesting metaphors. Whichever way you look at
it, your resume is the key to landing a great job. However, even though
this is a widely recognized fact, I still see resumes come across my
desk with glaring errors and obvious problems. With this in mind, I’ve
compiled a list of the biggest five resume mistakes that I see which
are easily preventable.

Here’s the list I’ve put together (in no particular order):

Top Five Resume Mistakes

Forget to include your contact information - This
seems silly, but it happens more often than you might think, especially
on resumes submitted through an internet form. ALWAYS double check to
make sure you have all your appropriate contact information on your
resume. This includes the following: Name, address, phone number (cell,
home or both just make sure you can be reached at it), and email
address (necessary in today’s workplace). Key points: Remember to
always include this information, and to always make sure it’s up to
date.
Use an inappropriate personal email address -
For example, if your college email address was
“idrinkalot@kegmaster.com” then this would not be acceptable to put on
your resume. This is exactly the wrong kind of impression to give your
potential employer. When it comes down to you and another candidate,
you don’t want them thinking of you as “the kegmaster”. My advice is to
get a new email address to use for your resumes (it is extremely easy
to get any number of web email addresses), and use the following
format: first name.last name@generic provider.
Lie about your experience/skills -
Obviously, you shouldn’t make up jobs on your resume. What I’m trying
to get at here is two fold: Lying about your position or
responsibilities, and lying about your skill set. A good example of the
first one is to say that you were the store manager when in reality the
actual store manager left you in charge for 15 minutes once when he
went to lunch. To the second point, an example of this would be to say
that you are a database expert when in reality you’ve probably just
used something that might have had a database attached to it. These
kinds of lies may get you in the door, but eventually they’ll push you
right back out. Remember: When you lie on your resume, someone ALWAYS
finds out, even if it takes awhile.
Go over two pages - This is an age old
debate: How long do you make your resume? In my opinion, you should try
to keep it to one page if possible. Employers don’t have time to sort
through a book of your accomplishments. This also makes you highlight
your best qualities and experience rather than drowning them out in a
sea of other information. However, with that being said, it is
acceptable to go over one page in the following instance: to put
additional skills on your resume. Mainly this is for technical skills,
but don’t cut something out that will help you get that job. If you’re
going over a paragraph into a second page, stop and evaluate what
you’re doing. Don’t use a second page just because you can, only use it
if you really need the space to sell yourself. Bottom line: Never go
over two pages, that’s the quickest way to get your resume placed in
the nearest circular file.
Provide poor references - With this one,
you are basically shooting yourself in the foot, maybe both feet. An
employer will call a reference to put a face to the experience you have
put on your resume. A good reference will lock the job up for you. A
bad reference will place you in the “don’t call us, we’ll call you”
category. What makes a bad reference? A bad reference is not just
someone who doesn’t like you, it’s also is someone who doesn’t know you
well or really didn’t work with you. A key point to remember is to
ALWAYS ask your references first before you put them down. This way,
they are not surprised when they get a call and you can get a feel for
if you really want them to be one of your references.

Ok, I know I said Top Five but I have to sneak a sixth one in here: Spellchecking.
If you don’t spell-check your resume, don’t even bother turning it in.
Once I see rampant bad spelling and grammar, that’s the end of the
interview process for you. Read over your resume and spell check it
thoroughly, you don’t want something like spelling to lose you that job.

Overall, when writing your resume keep in mind that you are selling
yourself. Take the extra time you need to really make you stand out to
your potential employer. Falling into any one of the traps above
immediately sends a bad message and shows that you didn’t take the time
to thoroughly go through your resume. If you can’t nail your resume,
how can you be expected to perform well at the job you are applying
for?

How to Remember Names

2006-05-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

The ability to remember the names of people you meet will always serve you well in social situations. (One of my greater failings!)

eHow

Open Loops: Use Personal Marketing to Set Yourself Apart

2006-05-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

There are many singers, but only one Elvis Presley. There are many dancers, but only one Fred Astaire. There are many talk show hosts, but people still talk about Johnny Carson. There are many time management experts, but only one...
Read more

Positive Sharing » How NOT to lead geeks

2006-05-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

Positive Sharing » How NOT to lead geeks

Six steps for learning difficult subjects quickly

2006-05-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

On Paul's Tips

Here's a strategy I've found useful for learning dry and difficult material quickly. At various times, I've used it to build up my knowledge of subjects like economics, investing, writing and computer programming languages. Some people have been surprised at how fast I can learn these kinds of skills, but I think anyone can do it with the right plan. Of course, you can use this to teach yourself interesting things as well, but most people don't have any problem learning stuff that's fun.
Permalink

How to (not) achieve your goals

2006-05-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

How to (not) achieve your goals from Lifehacker
Goals guy Brad Isaac's got 10 tongue-in-cheeky guidelines on how to NOT achieve your goals. All of them are funny (and true!) but #5 is one of my favorites: 5. Don't Do - Talk - Because talk is easier than... [Read More]

Tommaso Dorigo: The Say of the Week

2006-05-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them… Well, I have others."

(G.Marx)

Elemental Truths: What to Do When You Screw Up

2006-05-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Elemental Truths: What to Do When You Screw Up

Why a Mistake Blog

2005-12-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Someone adked me not too long ago why is use the phrase "If that's the biggest mistake you make this week, you are doing really good.".

Thinking aobut it, I realized that I have reached that point in my life where I am doing most things well, or at least correctly and that I measure my success by the size of my mistakes. Bit I don't always remember those mistakes!

So, here is the log of what I have done incorrectly to help me avoid making the same mistake twice.

Hopefully there won't be a lot of entries!