Pink Tennis Shoes and Resumes By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter I recently bought a pair of (hot-pink) Nike tennis shoes. I researched, consulted with the sports store pros and tried on several pairs to ensure a confident purchasing decision. On the heels of a focused 12-month exercise and fitness journey that has reinforced the value of...

Quit Being a Career Lightweight By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Your career is organic. It is a living, virtually breathing organism that needs to be nourished and exercised. Without attentive, continual care, you cannot expect your career heartbeat to remain vibrant and strong. To prevent career malnourishment, consider applying these...

Are There Cracks in Your Career Communications Strategy? By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Shedding light on your target audience, becoming intimate with your own value and drumming up muscular career stories that transport your reader all are essential action steps to forge a rock-solid resume. This foundational aspect of today’s job search helps prevent...

Your Resume: Be the Red Balloon in a Field of Yellow Ones image via flickr | thelou137 By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter It seems so simple, doesn’t it? After all, who better knows where you’ve been and what you’ve done than you? Open up your Word file and dump all that information into a pleasing format, forward it to a prospective employer or two, then sit...

7 Ways to Get Uncomfortable Writing Your Career Portfolio By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter #1: Metaphorically Speaking: Mix Prints | Get Colorful Have you ever revamped a stuffy wardrobe? For example, did your old wardrobe boast perfectly matched colors, solids and prints so that you would not stand out, be offensive or take a risk that someone may disapprove? During...

Recently Fired? Surround Yourself With Pushy Encouragers! image: SmilynStef (flickr) By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Recently downsized, separated or fired executives often at the precipice of retirement or at a phase in their executive career ladder where they are feeling old and worn down often struggle with building a career portfolio. They are so...

Does Your Resume Express Your Intensity? By Robert P. Poindexter When Pope Julius II decided the Sistine Chapel needed something a bit more inspirational for the ceiling than the gold stars that adorned the mostly blue ‘canvas,’ he sought out the person he felt would most passionately immerse himself in the challenge. Anyone over the...

Are You Just One of the Herd? The “LinkedIn-Is-Your-Resume” Debate Continues. By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter “My goal — and what attracted me to your website — is that you can portray the essence of who I am. It’s not just skill, but it is everything else that I bring to the table – my attitude – all of the life experience, the drive, the energy that I have. I...

Is the Resume Really Dying? (Really?) image: bocaratontribune.com By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Call the paramedics – the resume is dying! Erupting like popcorn kernels fired up by the heat of the latest and greatest social sites, tools and applications, the idea of a fast-food resume, sparked by your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or blog...

Is Your Resume a Cliffhanger? image: lotusinstitutions.com By Robert P. Poindexter The ‘Cliffhanger.’  That gut wrenching event brought to you by evil television producers as a way to entice you to stay tuned in to whatever mindless drivel you’ve been tricked into watching in the first place. Did your new favorite...