Be a Super Hero Candidate in Your Job Search

By: Christina M. Deck

So we all grew up with Batman, Superman, Thor, Spiderman, Captain America and WonderWoman, yes we watched in awe as they transformed from every day people into heroes in a minute. They rescued people from burning buildings and saved the world from the bad guys. We envied them and some of us wanted to grow up to be them. We would tell our moms and dads that we would be Superman someday and we would save the world.

In the workplace, we have the ability to be a superhero or as I would like to say a "superstar." We aren't performing death defying stunts or saving the world, but we are making a difference. Hiring managers like SuperStars candidates who rise to the challenge when things don't go their way. They want individuals who show tenacity.

They admire those individuals who have the drive to be a SuperStar in the workplace. In essence, that makes you a superhero in the workplace. You aren't the typical cookie cutter type of employee. When the computer crashes, the phones lines go dead for no reason and the fax machine is screeching out jamming messages to you, SuperStars don't lose their cool. When everything is falling apart, they figure out a way to solve problems and do the job no matter what and do it better. They become Leslie Knope. I apologize to my readers who don't understand my Parks and Rec reference.

How do you become a SuperStar Candidate in the Job Hunt Jungle? As you may know, we are coming out of the current recession, but the job market is still not an easy place to break into or navigate. How do you stand out from the pack of hungry job seeking candidates?

If you know of an individual who can mentor you during your job search, seek them out. They have knowledge and guidance to give you. Allow them to impart their wisdom upon you especially if they have been in the corporate world for decades. They will offer you great counsel like Yoda as you navigate the job market. They have been in your shoes too. They may be empathetic to your story or your circumstances. Allow them to share their experiences with you and offer their advice about addressing challenges.

Yes, I have read countless articles about how everyone sends their resumes to a hiring manager via email or via company web site. I have a couple tips so your resume doesn't end up in the blackhole of their inbox. Those hiring managers' inboxes are overflowing with candidates' resumes and cover letters. Here is my old school tip for you. Mail it. Fedex the package. Overnight it to the hiring manager. They will receive it the next day. They will open it, look at it and you will surpass their inbox with other applicants' resumes waiting to be read by the hiring manager. You will not be an email waiting to be deleted or overlooked. You don't want your resume to be an afterthought. You may well be on your way to an interview with them.

Many hiring managers are very selective about the hiring process. They are not going to waste their time in the current economy on the wrong hire. They do their research on candidates. In my last post, I stressed the importance of google'ing yourself. Recruiters now utilize google and Linkedln to find talent. Your google search is more important in 2014. Do not shove that under the rug. Also, post your information on zoominfo.com. Many recruiters utilize this site to find candidates and research candidates as well. LinkedIn offers job hunters a way to create summary and use it to their benefit. Many hiring managers highly recommend creating a LinkedIn account for yourself.

Customize your resume to the specific needs of the position. Target it to your audience. Yes, this takes more time, but sitting in your basement every day for 12 hours staring at the wall and wondering why you don't have job isn't productive either. Use specific terms and phrases related to their job posting. A hiring manager is more apt to look at a resume if it contains words and/or descriptions that fit the job description. Also, format your resume to a readable format for the hiring manager so if they do open it on their computer it is easily accessible and they don't have to spend 15 minutes trying to open it. Speak to their needs. The average time spend on a resume is 30 seconds so draw your audience in to your piece of writing.

Network. It's not what you know, but who you know. My mother use to tell me this when I was 22 and I had just graduated from college. I was searching for a job and applying to graduate school. At that time, I didn't understand the true power of networking. Tell everyone you know or meet that you are seeking a job. Seek out personal business connections. If you are applying for a certain position, meet people on the inside who can give your resume to a hiring manager. Find out who vendors and/or clients are of the company. Build a relationship with those people. I know this may sound silly, but make personal business cards to give to people. You can utilize Zazzle or another source for business cards. You can simply put a design on the front of the card and a name, phone number, email, web site on the back of the card. You can hand these out at business networking events. I recommend joining a young business professional group as well to network and meet other young professionals for those 22-40 in your area. Also, volunteer with your free time. It is another great way to network and meet people. It is also a resume builder. You can only devote so much of your day to finding a job.

Attend conferences/events where you can learn more about your field and/or changes and current developments. It never hurts to educate yourself. Also, if you have a local community college, it may be beneficial to enroll in a course to update your skill set too.

Feature and highlight the testimonials from LinkedIn on your resume. Ask your references to write a positive testimonial about you or ask a former client/colleague to write a testimonial about your skill set or your professional background. It will build your credibility and character.

Ask the right questions in the interview. Many candidates do not know the questions to ask or simply say they have no questions. Research online questions to ask or be prepared with a list of questions to ask the hiring manager. For example, ask what the job duties will every day? What is the company work style like? Do they allow autonomous work? Do they value teamwork? How long have they been in business? Do they allow volunteer work during company time? What are the benefits? Are the hours 8-5 or are they flexible? Do they allow overtime?

Lastly and most importantly, have patience.

C Emery Scott

Acing A First Interview

By: Christina M. Deck

So I like to compare job hunting to dating. You go on interview after interview looking for the right job like you do when you are dating. You date a number of people until you find the right person. You go on date after date sifting through numerous candidates hoping you will find Mr. or Mrs. Right. You are constantly interviewing people and seeing if their credentials fit yours. It took me a long time to find the right person and yes wehad a series of job interviews before we got married.

Job hunting is not an easy task. It is time consuming and in essence, it is like having a full time job, but you do not get paid. I recently read research online which indicated it took 10 interviews before an individual was offered one job. The job market currently is not easy to break into right now. I have worked with very well educated clients who have told me it took them between six to eight months to find a job in the current economic climate. I can empathize with their frustration, as my husband is going through the same process.

Recently, my spouse posed the question, "How Do You Ace an Interview?" I pondered this question for over a week and I read numerous articles on the topic before I started writing my post today. In June, my spouse decided to make a career change for the better and leave his company. He wanted to branch out and explore the world outside the politics of corporate America. We recently met with a family friend who is the Human Resources Director at Ameritas. She gave my husband helpful advice on his career path and the careers he should be seeking after he took a behavioral analysis assessment. With a better understanding of his personality, he knew which careers to pursue in the future with his job search.

Initially, my husband had a hard time finding what he did best. In the past, I utilized Strengthfinder, this book gives you the ability to decipher what your talents are and enhance your skill set. You also want to be in a workplace environment where you thrive and you are a good fit. Gallup now offers Strengthfinder 2.0 and it is a good source for developing and enhancing your talents. This book is a good starting point for anyone seeking to find out their natural born strengths.

Yet his question struck a cord. so you landed that job of interview of a lifetime...yay! But now you must ace that interview....so how do you do that? Where do you begin?

Tips and Strategies for Effective Interview Process

Personally, I strongly dislike phone interviews. You cannot see the person's face or make eye contact or directly make a connection with the person. I prefer face to face interviews. Before an interview, I remembered making lists upon lists. My strengths. My weaknesses. My answers to commonly asked questions. I was overly prepared. First and foremost, over-prepare for an interview.

Do your research about the company. Last week, I wrote about hiring managers looking at your social media accounts. Well, you should be doing the same. Google the company. Find out all the information about them. Get on their web site and read. Learn about the company, learn about the person interviewing you, understand the mission statement, understand its products, services, locations, look at their press releases, read about their history, read about their owners. Also, know the name of the person who is interviewing you. Learn his or her name. Pronounce it properly. Research the person you will be interviewing with and know their history. You may find a common ground with that person.

For example, you may have a shared hobby, you may have attended the same college, you may have children the same age. It never hurts to be overly prepared. And just so you know, they are human too. They are not famous people so do not allow them to intimidate you. Think about why you are a good fit for the job.

I am alway reminded of the episode on the show How I Met Your Mother where Marshall interviews for a new job as an environmental attorney and he realizes when he googles himself a video of him streaking shows up on the Internet. It never hurts to google yourself before an interview at the mere chance you have to combat something negative. We may have done something immature from our youth and you may have to be prepared to face it or deal with it. Be confident and calm if you are met with a challenge.

When you interview, you want to focus on how your skills will benefit them! Keep this in the back of your mind as you interview. Take an interest in your interviewer, keep eye contact, dress the part, don't overdress. Take your time to answer questions thoughtfully and carefully. It is ok to take a moment to think and pause to answer questions. I personally say "um" way too much when I get nervous.

I have also heard a thing or two about tattoos. I have read so many things on Facebook lately about tattoos being an expression of yourself and to respect those people. Yes, I respect you, but most hiring managers do not want to see your tattoos and piercings all over your body. I am being completely honest and straight forward. I have two employees with tattoos on their wrists. Both of my employees are beautiful women, but when they interviewed with me they both had enough respect to ask about tattoos and cover them with bandaids while interviewing with me.

I have read numerous psychological things about humans liking the sound of their own voice and we do. Follow your interviewer's lead. Do not talk too fast. You do not need to over share with the person interviewing you and tell your whole life story. When they ask you to tell them about you, focus on things related to the job and why your background makes you a great candidate for the position. List three or four skills related to the position and/or personal attributes which make you a great candidate.

When you are preparing for an interview, generally you will be asked these questions:

What are your strengths?

List three or four skills related to position.

Frame replies that demonstrate you understand their current issues or problems within the company. Also, demonstrate how your skill set will solve those issues. Visit their Facebook, Twitter, watch company videos, understand their wants/needs and see how your skill set fits in to their overall company structure.

What are your weaknesses?

You always want to focus on the positive in an interview. You may want to focus on a weakness you conquered. For example, you may have been timid and shy when you began working and you were afraid to give your opinion to others, but initially you found the confidence in yourself and your abilities and you blossomed in a company setting with great co-workers who served as wonderful mentors and guides to you. Also you can turn a negative into a positive, for example, you may say you have a hard time delegating tasks to others because you want the job done right the first time and you know you will do it right and correctly.

Be thoughtful about your weaknesses. Do NOT say you work too hard. This is the most cliche answer you could give you a hiring manager. Yes, everyone works and we all work hard. Do not mention any weaknesses which could hurt you. For example, do not say you are bad with math or you are a horrible speller.

What are your accomplishments?

Talk about specific projects. Demonstrate how they are relevant to the position. The goal is to link it all together.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Honestly, I do not even know where I will be in five years. This is a hard question. To any future employer, my advice would be to say something relevant to job and/or position. Never say anything unrelated to them.

How do you deal with conflict or a difficult situation?

We are human and no one gets along perfectly every day. Each day we are faced with different challenges and obstacles which make us think. We meet people who are often irrational and hard to deal with in every day life and who seek to create drama. Just turn on the Real Housewives of any city and you will see it. The best way to approach any conflict situation and resolve it is to be responsible and accountable for your actions. Admit when you are wrong and always remain rational and calm.

Finally, go over your resume before an interview and review it. Also, If you have the opportunity to do a mock interview with a family member or friend, I find this to be very helpful and you can practice reviewing your interview questions and answers. Yes, the questions may differ from what I listed above, but I wanted to give my readers a general idea of how to prepare for an interview. Good luck on your next date!

Hiring Managers Checking Your Social Media Accounts

By: Christina Cattau

Remember the good ole days where you would show up for an interview and the hiring manager only knew your name and a short biographical history about you. You had that initial moment to make your first impression with your freshly pressed suit, firm handshake and pristine resume.

Hiring managers did not have access to google, Facebook or Twitter. They were not able to act like Big Brother and tower over you knowing all the intimate details of your life. Social media has changed the hiring process. Now, hiring managers know all about you before the interview since they have the ability to check Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vine, Instagram, Google and the list goes on....

When I was applying for jobs 12 years ago, I did not have a Facebook account or Twitter. The company did not have an inside view of my history when I was 24, but I honestly had nothing to hide. When I taught Business Communications, I stressed to my students the importance of checking their MY SPACE and the evolving Facebook accounts at the time, as employers checked these sites frequently to do leg work before an interview. It provided them with insight about a potential employee. I further emphasized that the photos of them doing a keg stand was not appropriate and in 10 years, they would feel differently about those photos. My students obviously were proud of their photos, but any future employer would say no, I don't think...next person please.

Every single post on Facebook and Twitter is scrutinized by a hiring manager. It communicates to them how you deal with life: joy, challenges, frustrations and difficulties. These translate over into the workplace as well. Would you have the same attitude with clients or customers when handling a situation? So why do they do this? Is is entirely fair to the population applying for jobs?

Yes, it is. You are obviously brazen enough to post the information to your social media account and put it out there into cyberspace then you should not be worried about anyone seeing it. Right? Hiring managers utilize the information to eliminate any candidates who could potentially pose an issue to their company or create drama. If your social media account is littered with comments bragging about you ridiculing another person, you may not necessarily be the person for the job.

My suggestion: Look over your accounts before your job search. That crazy night from the Justin Timberlake concert in the party limo with you doing shots may not be a selling point for a hiring manager. It may come back to haunt you.

Also, if you are constantly focused on your weight and your material looks that may communicate something to a future manager as well that you care less about getting ahead professionally and more about your exterior looks. Your inner talent and beauty are most important. Clearly, I understand looking professional and being confident, but constantly posting your weight and photos of your bare stomach is not professional. Posting a photo of you dressed professionally in an outfit that gives you confidence is awesome.

Also, when you click on a Facebook profile, even if you are blocked, you still can view a profile photo and some of those posts you think are set to hidden may be viewable to an audience. Remember to check your settings. Also, every single tweet is archived at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Unless you are applying for a job in Siberia, you can count on hiring managers looking at your accounts.

Nothing is full proof. We live in an electronic age. If you put something out there, be prepared....it could go viral.

Determination: This is How We Do 34.....

By: Christina  Deck

Fun Sunday Fact: By the time you are 30, you can expect to have five to seven jobs. The average employee will have worked 12 to 15 jobs over the course of their career, staying an average of 3.6 years.

My business entails assisting my clients with resume writing and professional writing pieces for businesses. Recently, I have been working with two of my friends to revamp their resumes. Both of them are my age, 34. I quickly realized as I was composing their resumes how life evolves over 12 years. It shocks me sometimes how fast time flies by us and how in the blink of an eye we wake up and we are no longer 22 with no responsiblities, but 34 with kids, mortgage, spouse and the perks of being an adult. All of a sudden we were slapped in the face with all these realities that we thought our parents were accountable for over the years. We now go to bed at 9 p.m., do midnight feedings, a few of us are reinventing ourselves at this fine and respectable age and at times, the uncertainty of the future can freak us out a bit. Maybe I am generally speaking on my own behalf.

In reviewing my clients' resumes, I noted both had had at least five to seven jobs over the course of 12 years. I myself started to think about my previous employment history as well. I soon realized I have had six jobs over the course of the last decade. I have been in my current position for the last seven years at Deck Family Practice as their business manager. I launched C Emery Scott in May.

Yet when I was a freshly minted face out of college, I too was navigating the real world and attempting to steer my ship toward a career or post graduate school which was exhilarating and scary at times.

All of our experiences have made us the person we are today and shaped us. As business professionals, you have learned from your mistakes too as not one of us is a perfect human being. When you were 22, you may have been lost as to what your career path was in life, but over 10, 11, 12 years the journey led you to your destination.

The fact is that we should not be ashamed of our extensive job history or pursuing a career which gives us personal happiness.

This is quoted from an article by Eric Siu from Forbes.com, he states, "Professor Alex Edmans of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania discovered that businesses with high levels of employee satisfaction perform better than those without.  Research from the University of Warwick says happiness makes people 12 percent more productive."

Ultimately, we should all strive to find a profession where we are happy, which translates into productivity. We essentially do not want to waste company time or our time where we are miserable.

Personally, I am grateful for the last seven years, as I greet every challenge with determination. I embrace it more than ever, as I am able to think on my feet and help others solve a problem. I vividly remember the first time someone yelled at me about a billing statement and crying. Obviously, I had to develop a thicker skin to survive in my position. Unfortunately, not every person you greet is happy or nice or even RATIONAL.

As a business professional, you have to have determination to survive and thrive. 

If you need some song inspiration, I recommend Will.I.AM #thatPower or Katy Perry's new one, This is How we do.

~ C Emery Scott

Tips for Better Business Writing

By: Christina M. Deck

The final stage of the writing process involves revising, proofreading and evaluating.  It is the most important phase of writing.  Revising means improving the content and sentence structure of your message.  Proofreading revolves around correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, format and mechanics.  Evaluating is the process of analyzing whether your message achieved its purpose.

I spend a vast majority of my time revising and proofreading my work over and over again.  I understand it has to read professionally to the audience I address.  For example, I wrote a 50 page prospectus for Midwest Medical Transport Company.  It was a lengthy process, as I kept going back to re-read everything I had written.  Did it make sense to my audience? Did it flow? Did I spell everything correctly? I am the type of person who does not rely solely on spell checker, as a good writer I have to be able to analyze my writing and check for correct spelling and grammar.  This piece I was writing was ultimately going to be presented as a proposal for a bid within the region.  Not only did I have to think about the business managers at MMTC, but the potential city manager or hospital administrator who would be reading my work.  It deserved careful revision and proofreading on my part to ensure it would be professional and appropriate. Lastly, it had solidify the bid for them.  

Although the writing  process differs for individuals and situations, this final stage of the process should occupy a significant share of your time.  Rarely, even for me or any other professional writer, is a first draft or second draft satisfactory or perfect.  When you are sending a message with significance, write the first draft, set the document aside, take a break then return to it.  I sometimes find if I have a clear head then I am able to do a better job of assessing my work.

You want to express, but impress as well.  One way to achieve your goal of clear writing is to eliminate the so called fog and use the active voice in your business writing, be direct and do not use pompous language.  With the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the verb.  

Using Active Versus Passive Voice

Resource: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/01/

In a sentence using active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb.

The arrow points from the subject performing the action (the dog) to the individual being acted upon (the boy). This is an example of a sentence using the active voice.

Sample active voice sentence with the subject performing the action described by the verb.

The active voice sentence subject (watching a framed, mobile world) performs the action of reminding the speaker of something.

Each example above includes a sentence subject performing the action expressed by the verb.

Avoid language people do not understand, for example, slang or the latest buzzwords.   

Executives today will not read wordy emails or letters.  It is a waste of their time.  It is better to write a piece with value which articulates your point concisely and clearly.  Messages without redundancies are easier to comprehend.  

Removing Fillers
Avoid fillers to fatten sentences with excess words.  Beginning an idea with "there is" usually indicates writers are spinning their wheels until they decide how to properly begin the sentence.
Which sounds better to you?
- There are three vice presidents who report directly to the president
- Three vice presidents report directly to the president

Eliminate Redundancies
Expressions which repeat meaning or include unnecessary words are redundant.  For example, if you were to state the following, I received an unexpected surprised.  You are basically saying the same thing "SURPRISE, SURPRISE." The words have the same meaning.  

Excessive adjectives, adverbs and phrases often create redundancies and wordiness.
Reduce Compound Prepositions
What sounds better?
-as to whether
- whether
- at a later date
- later
- at this point in time
- now

Avoid Saying the Obvious
When it arrived, I cashed your check immediately versus I cashed your check immediately

Kick the Noun Habit
I have seen student writers addicted to nouns and transform verbs into nouns.  This little habit reinforces long sentence length, drains verb strength, slows down the reader and muddies the thought process at times.

Which sounds better?
-Conduct a discussion of
-Discussion

- Create a reduction in
- Reduce

-Engage in the preparation of
- Prepare

Dump Trite Business Phrases in the 21st Century
Yes, you want and need to sound professional, but let's not repeat the same stale expressions which writers have used for years.  Make your writing sound FRESH! Make it sound VIGOROUS AND ALIVE!  Eliminate certain phrases and create an original way to convey your thoughts.  I told many of my business communications students how smart and talented they were.  They simply needed to take the time to write a piece and not rush it.  

Which sounds better to you?
- As per your request
- As you request

-Pursuant to your request
- At your request

- In accordance with your wishes
- As you wish

Develop Parallelism in your Writing
How do you achieve parallelism in your writing? Match nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, phrases with phrases and clauses with clauses.  

For example, I write clearly, concisely and correctly is parallel.  Why do you ask? All the adverbs which modify the verb "write" end in "ly." If you stated the sentence as I write concisely, clearly and with correctness.  It would seem off as the last item is not parallel to other adverbs. 

Writing is a learning process.  Be patient with it and know you are not alone in attempting to create better sentences, phrases and correspondence.  It takes time and practice.  It has taken me over 12 years to learn how to become a better writer.  I am truly thank for my experience at UNL where I learned a lot from Jeff Griesch and Shamus McKnight.  They were both incredible mentors to me and I am always thankful for the opportunity I had to work as a graduate assistant with them.  They taught me more about writing than in a classroom setting.  

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

~ C Emery Scott and the busy bees

Listen and Listen Well

By: Christina M. Deck

In the workplace, we spend more time listening than any other skill.  Think about it: When compared to talking, writing or reading,  you are most often listening.  Many of us have taken courses to improve our writing, speaking or even reading.  Now it is time for a short lesson in listening, probably the single most improvable workplace communication skill.

So what is the difference between hearing and listening? Hearing is a recognition of sounds, including words around you.  For example, when you walk around a busy office, you hear a lot of words from various conversations.  You catch words, phrases, sentences here and there.  When you actually focus in on the words in a particular conversation and begin to interpret, evaluate meaning and establish the words in a context, then BOOM...you are listening.  Hearing is one of those things done between the ears.  I often find myself repeating things to my father at work over and over again. He is hearing me, but not actually listening to me or the value of my words.  Then he will say I didn't know that was happening or why am I doing this today and I will say I told you that a week ago or three days ago.  When you listen, you remember conversations, dates, times, important things.

Are you LISTENING?
It is said most of us only listen 25 percent of the time.  The other 75 percent is just hearing or listening poorly.  Therefore, we all have tremendous room for growth in the listening department. In order to do my job well, I have to listen to my clients' wants and needs.  I specifically take the time to sit down and speak with them face to face and write everything down.  Yesterday, I had a conference call with a potential client and I went into an office, closed the door, unplugged the office phone and answered my cell phone.  I told my Deck Family Practice staff I was taking an important call.  I had to listen to this potential client and take the time to really listen to what they wanted.  It is so important to take the time to write down what they say as well and take notes.  I also am very meticulous about my note taking as well.  With no interruptions, I was able to listen and have a successful conference call and potentially form a partnership with another growing business.  In positive terms, even increasing your listening ability by 10 percent or 15 percent will give you a significant boost to your workplace performance.  

So what are the benefits of listening well and why is this so important? I mean doesn't everyone listen? No, not necessarily.  If you want to be an effective leader in the workplace,  you must listen well, as it beneficial to your personal and professional growth. 

First of all, you get your work done right the FIRST TIME.  A percentage of work is usually redone because employees miss key steps when a procedure is explained.  Listening well to instructions and following through on them properly provides you with a solid base for demonstrating explementary work to your superiors.

Secondly, you learn more.  Employees increase their value in a workplace setting by listening to others.  They understand their products, services, customers and they are able to answer questions appropriately and professionally if they are challenged.  Effective listeners also get the "big picture" more quickly in an organization because they have taken the time to review the materials and resources given to them, including speaking to co-workers, managers and supervisors.

Thirdly, if you listen, your words have more value.  You have earned the right to be listened to by others if you demonstrate you listen and care about others.  

And lastly, an effective listener is always better in an office conflict situation.  They are more likely to examine each viewpoint carefully after they have listened to each side of the story in a problem solving session.  They earn more respect by offering a few minutes to a co-worker by allowing them to speak and be heard.  This relieves stress and tension in an office setting.  It contributes to office harmony.

Although it appears to be a passive skill, listening is hard work and you must actively engage in it.  

Business Writing Is....

By: Christina M. Deck

Think carefully about the last email you wrote a friend. Did you use proper grammar or capitalization? Did you use periods, commas, semi colons, question marks? Did you allow those bad habits from texting to creep into your professional writing correspondence?

Studies have shown poor writing skills can be a deal breaker at work during a job search.  Remember that little email is more important than you think.  I received an email last week and it read, " I appreciate you meetin with me about the job situacion and the curent opening."

I thought is this what schools are teaching our young people? Really? What happened to the generation below me? I did not think I was that old and did not realize young people were not taking things as seriously as I was when I was 22. 

Human resource managers are taking note of your good writing skills more than ever.  If you think you are being evaluated based on your resume and cover letter only, you better think back to the very first email you sent a potential manager. Business Writing Is...

- Purposeful. It solves problems and conveys information.
You will have a definite purpose to fulfill in each message

- Economical. It is concise.
You will present ideas clearly and concisely.  Length is not rewarded.
- Reader oriented. It focuses on the receiver, not the sender.
You will concentrate on looking at a problem from the reader's perspective instead of seeing it from your own.

The writing process involves researching, organizing and composing.  First, before writing, a business person must collect through research all of the needed information.  The gathered information helps the writer shape the message to the receiver's need for knowledge or action.

No smart business savvy person would begin writing a message without collecting all the needed information.  Research is necessary before you begin the writing process, as information collection shapes the message.

Also, organize your thoughts cohesively before you start clicking away on the keyboard.  Do not rely solely on spell checker, have another person edit your work.  Do not use BUZZ WORDS.  I strongly encourage intelligent writing.  Read good novels and literary works. This does not mean reading the latest smut by US Weekly. 

Last but not least! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Write as much as you can and if you still have trouble, pick up the phone and call me. 

Life Achievements, Triumph and Glory

By: Christina M. Deck

I had the honor and opportunity to write a prospectus for Midwest Medical Transport Company.   It is with great appreciation to the owners, Kim and Jill Wolfe for allowing me to assist their great company.  I truly admire their story and background.  

They started their company out of an apartment.then moved to a garage.  They ran their operations out of their garage from 1992-2000.  I was very inspired by their determination and hard work. 

Curt always jokes  with me saying, you are starting your company from our dining room table on your laptop.  He says it will be a great story to tell someday to another client.  I have been offered an office space with some other ladies from the Launch Ladies Lincoln group and I agreed I would take it.  I am excited about the opportunity to meet other women in Lincoln with the same entrepreneur spirit as me.  

It was such a huge project for me.  I am feeling so triumphant with my achievement of finishing the 50 page prospectus. Yes! 50 pages after I finished it tonight...I posted it was 20 pages on Facebook, but after adding photos and captions it totaled 49 pages.

I am so very thankful and grateful to Sean DeLancey for this opportunity.  I am looking forward to adding this prospectus to my ever growing binder.  I am feeling like Leslie Knope if you get the Parks and Rec inference.  I want to keep knocking these projects out of the park and giving it my all.  I get up early, I work late.  Sometimes, it is hard when the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. beckoning me out of bed onto our hard wood floor, but to me in the end it is so worth it, as I want to provide my family with an awesome life and share my passion for writing with the world.

I am beyond overjoyed at this moment as I was chosen to write this prospectus.  There have been times in the last eight weeks I have doubted myself and my abilities, but my amazing spouse keeps pushing me forward each day reminding me that I can't give up and this is what I love.  He asked me the other day when I knew I loved writing and when I found my passion.  I told him the story of being in the fourth grade and making my own lunch each morning in our kitchen on Whitestone Drive.  I would sit down and eat breakfast and turn on CNN news.  I always watched this news woman named Bobbi and at the time, I thought I want to be like her.  I want to share the news, share my stories and write.  I thought Bobbi was amazing because she was a woman on TV sharing the news with the WORLD (haha) I would write short stories, poems, narratives.  I dove into books with nose stuck in them for hours.  I read all the classics.  While other fourth graders were checking out popular fiction, I was reading the biography of Benjamin Franklin.  I was so passionate about learning about the world around me and sharing it.  I wanted to compose beautiful stories to share with everyone.  I knew when I was 8 I wanted to be a writer.  My husband then said jerk! haha! He was joking, but I always felt an urge to write. 

I am also so grateful to our new and current clients, as they have chosen us to assist them with their current and future WRITING needs.  A huge thank you!

I have never been so grateful to those around me for believing in me and my talent.  I hope I will continue to work vigorously to achieve my goals and endure under deadlines.  

Goodnight, calling it a day after 15 hours of marathon writing and proofing....

~ C Emery Scott and the busy bees

Busy Bees

By: Christina M. Deck

My son told me this morning we are busy bees.  It is so true as I find myself dropping Scotty off at camp then quickly sprinting to the medical office and a doctor's appointment later followed by a baseball game at 8 p.m. which will go past our usual bedtime routine.  

How did we get so busy? It is sometimes a blessing and curse to be so busy. A blessing in the fact I am so happy we have so many projects in line and we are blessed to have trust instilled in us by our clients to accomplish their goals and meet deadlines.  

It is sometimes a curse because you feel like you have a ticking clock and there is never enough time in the day to accomplish what you need to get done. I was working yesterday all day and quickly realized it was 5 p.m.  I thought where has the day gone.   

Well for all you working mothers who juggle multiple duties, it is not an easy task at times.  I have various neon post it's all over the dining room table with my never ending tasks to complete.    

So at the end of the day when I tuck myself into bed, I am thankful for my beautiful son and the jobs I have.  My life may be busy, but I wouldn't want it any other way.  I have worked so hard the last six years to get to a point where I could make my dream a reality.  

Happy Monday ~
C Emery Scott and the busy bees

Zazzle Store - CEmeryScott

Christina M. Deck 

Connect with our online Zazzle Store:  http://www.zazzle.com/cemeryscott

Birthday Invitations

Check out our most recently published products:

Business Cards

Save the Dates

Sample Save the Date for my growing line of invitations

Thank you to my brother Thomas and Ginger for being my inspiration this week! It has been fun creating a sample line to present to future clients.  I have two beautiful pieces to present and I thankful to both of you for the opportunity to share them with others. 

Also, we have a Zazzle Store online! Check it out, http://www.zazzle.com/cemeryscott! We now have seven published designs.  

The most recent design was published today:  http://www.zazzle.com/save_the_date_invitation-161462830565919448

Thank you to Patrick J. Grosserode!

A huge thank you to my client Patrick J. Grosserode for giving me the opportunity to work with him.  I composed two different resumes for him and helped him with copy for his LinkedIn professional page. i enjoyed corresponding with him and learning about his business background and achievements over the last decade.  I would like to wish him the best in his future endeavors with his current company. Thank you for educating me as well about product development, marketing and sales in the 21st century.  Thank you again for choosing C Emery Scott as your resume writing service.  We value our clients and their continued support of our growing business.

Huge Thank you to my client Mr Trevor Geary!

A huge thank you to my client Trevor Geary for giving me the opportunity to work with him on his resume! i enjoyed meeting with him and learning about biomedical engineering.  I would like to wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors in Michigan and I will be praying for him as he begins his job search.  Thank you again for choosing C Emery Scott as your resume writing service.

Please contact us again if we may be of assistance to you in the future.
www.cemeryscott.com

twitter@cemeryscott 

Harsh Realities

BY: CHRISITNA M. DECK
I enjoyed reading this short article, as I began this journey to start my own business and began seeking freelance writing jobs. I soon realized it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. There were thousands of other writers doing the exact same thing, pursuing the same goal and far more experienced with previous writing job credits 5.000 miles long. I have received rejections from #elance #odesk but I finally received an email from the CEO of #Blogmutt and he said I could write a blog for them. Moral of the story: I never gave of up and I am not the type to give up on a goal. 

I have always prided myself on my strength and perseverance over the last seven years. I pride myself on being a fighter. I love William Shakespeare's quote though she be but little she is fierce. If you have a dream, goal or the positive energy to change your life for the better, do it. Be happy. I have decided to make a positive change in my life. My son has been my inspiration.  He reignited my love and passion for writing again. I am happy to be utilizing my creative energy to write resumes and design pieces. I also love designing invititations for special events. I love the joy I bring to people. Be joyful today and remember that every time you thought you were being rejected from something good, you were actually being re-directed to something better. 

http://thoughtcatalog.com/cody-delistraty/2013/09/21-harsh-but-eye-opening-writing-tips-from-great-authors/

Thomas and Ginger Save the Date

My brother Thomas is getting married in December to a wonderful young woman named Ginger.  I am blessed to welcome a new addition to the family.  She compliments Thomas very well and I hope someday my own son meets someone who truly makes him complete as a person.  I was assisting a client yesterday with their save the dates.  The client requested a chalkboard background.  I found a nice .jpeg online and purchased it.  I designed the invite for the client and then to provide any future clients with a sample decided to utilize my brother and future sister's photo in a save the date.  It ended up looking so very sweet and I love the photo of the two of them.  I am looking forward to their upcoming nuptials.  I am going to continue to work on more sample pieces this afternoon so I have a product line to present to clients.  It is the best part of my job, creating!

Pursuing a Dream...Making it a Reality

It has always been my dream to write a novel and become well known for my writing skills.  Over the last five years, I realized my survival was more important and it was necessary to put my passion on the back burner in order to support myself and my son.  Juggling single motherhood, a full time job and the countless other life entanglements, didn't give me a lot of time to invest in myself or my writing.  God had an amazing plan for me and I met my future husband, who has been a supportive, compassionate partner in life.

My wonderful son reignited my passion for writing.

One of my friends asked me one day why I wasn't doing writing as a side business? You are so talented.  I hadn't heard those words from anyone in so long.  Of course, professors and my former employers had told me I had talent with writing, but I had been caught up in life and raising a child.  It was never anything I thought I could ultimately utilize as a skill to help others.  I thought maybe he is right. Slowly over the course of the last few months, I began working on resumes of friends and family.

I have a web site which I am happy to finally call my own, cemeryscott.net 

Please check it out!! 

I am off and running, begging to navigate the world of twitter and tweeting.  Look for updates on our status! I also will be adding to our Facebook page as well and I am hoping to incorporate a new logo and font in the upcoming year.

I recently had a former high school classmate ask for my assistance and I finished his pieces for him.  I absolutely love the challenge of crafting a resume. It enables me to be creative and utilize my gift of writing.  

The name of my company came to me one day.  Two little people hold a huge part of my heart.  My beautiful son, James Scott and my niece and goddaughter Emery Jane.  My number one boy has been the light of my life and he is full of joy and smiles.  Emery Jane is my firstborn niece and I was bestowed the honor of being called her godmother.  She is by far the most articulate, precarious five year old I know and she melts my heart with her phone calls and Face Time calls.  My heart grows every time I hear the word, "Auntie" from her.  They are both very special to me.  So I decided upon C Emery Scott, as it would hold a special place in my heart,

So we are moving down a new life path, C Emery Scott Writing & Design and I.  We plan to do big things.

My son is my greatest joy in my life.  I am so thankful for my my family's daily encouragement to pursue my dreams with his support.  I am happy we have a silver lining to our story.  So Let's Get Started!