#10 - Orbit of Order - My Talents


God has already given us many valuable gifts to us personally. 
We need seek them out, organize them and praise Him for His 
provisions to us. Secondly, we need to be good stewards of them.

I call this the 6 W’s of “Resumes with an Attitude.”

Why – Organized, find Gappy resumes,
When - way before you start job searches.
Where – keep optimizing your resume on the computer.
What - Contact info, Objective, Experience, and Training
Which - Which comes first, getting experience or getting a job.
Who - Who do I do a resume for? – Myself, Others – to understand them better, and especially Jesus Christ.

<<Introduction>> - When should I start a resume? How do I get experience if I can’t get a job? What is a “gappy” resume? Is it goofy to have more than one resume?

<<Why>> - Resumes are valuable for a great deal more than job searches. They teach us to organize in simple ways. They help build our self-esteem. They push us to focus our talents etc. They help us to understand the actions and needs of others.

<<When>> - The why of resumes lead us to see job searches are just a small part of resume purposes. Even pre-teens will learn great lessons from creating resumes.

<<Where>> -  On the computer. You’ll need to change your resume often. Computers like that. List changes on paper first. Before you touch the keyboard, ask God to help. He’s very good with computer projects. Computers are dumber than hoe handles. You have to be patient with them. Concentrate on what you do know about them and not on what you don’t know about computers. Ask a friend to help. Libraries have computers, printers, training videos, and helpful people that will guide you along.

<<What>> - What should go in a resume? Libraries and the Internet have a great deal of detailed resume instructions. They simply are these:
Start with just one sentence that simply states what your goal, your objective, for employment is. You’ll want to reword it differently for the different companies you go to.
Second, list all your Qualities. See yourself as having value that an employer would want. Be generous. God has blessed you in some ways that you need to search for. Add to the list over the weeks to come.

Next should come a list of your experience. Put it in chronological order. Look for gaps or missing information. Gappy resumes might suggest to the reader that you are not good at keeping busy, between jobs and between tasks.

Lastly, list all your training. Include not only the training you have RECEIVED, but also what you have GIVEN. Add to the list any awards, certifications, and newspaper articles that credit you. This is not bragging, so long as you give God the credit and praise as you talk to others.

Periodically compare your lists of talents and experience with your objective. You will want to look for gaps or training you are missing out on to get to your objective.

<<Which>> - Which comes first, getting a job or getting experience to get a job? The answer is clear and simple. Remember that it is important that you not have a gappy resume. You must show the reader you are “always” busy either working or training.
Volunteer at church, civic organizations, schools, parks, libraries, clubs, and businesses. Tell them your purpose is to gain experience and show on your resume you can make good use of all your time. If your volunteer help really was beneficial to them, they will happily respond with a small note of your actions for your records.

<<Who>> - Who should I make a resume about? Obviously ourselves, But Resumes with an Attitude are powerfully used as we create resumes of those we want to understand or impress. Though they won’t be entirely accurate, we will be able to better interact with someone when we have considered their goals, experience, training etc. Create a simple resume of your boss, your teacher, your parent, or even your pastor. What do you suppose the resume of Jesus Christ would say?