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Does Your Thinking Limit Your Success?
By Walter Hanig

Presenter: Phil Black

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January 8 meeting details

On January 8 join Phil Black from Productive Learning & Leisure as we learn about the correlation between our thoughts and attitudes and the results in our lives. Plan on participating in exercises that demonstrate how our perspectives are limited and why.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Ways to expand your pre-programmed notions about a particular situation.
  
  
• A clearer picture of the limited perspectives you currently have.
  
  
• Tools you can use to break out of these limitations.
  
  
• An experience that demonstrates that making money doesn't have to be difficult.
  
  
• Knowledge of what it takes to make better choices and thereby improve the quality of your life.
  
  
• Applications of the experience to your specific profession.

Rick Bradshaw presents plaque to Pam Fridie

Guest speaker Silke Fleischer prepares to present

Silke presents RoboDemo to drawing winner Tani Barbour

Wally Buck winner Melanie Jennings

• Rick Bradshaw announced the Nomination by Petition for Susanna Lawrence. She would like to be on the National Office ballot for the STC Spring elections. A petition, along with her "vision," was available on each table. Rick stated a disclaimer that our chapter leadership does not endorse any particular candidate.
  
  
• Rick Bradshaw, last year's Signature newsletter editor, presented newsletter copyeditor Pam Fridie with an Award of Excellence plaque (won in last year's newsletter competition).

• Walter thanked Lynn Sorenson for being the evening's librarian, and Lance Robert and Nadine Barter Bowlus for checking everyone into the meeting.
  
  
• Attendees may now pay by credit card, in advance only, through PayPal.
  
  
• Contact Lance-Robert if you would like to be included in the STC San Diego e-mail list. The list is used to distribute news of upcoming events.
  
  
• Walter announced the next telephone seminar.
  
  
• Suggestions for presentations or topics for future meetings are welcome. Please contact Walter with your ideas.
  
  
• We need volunteers for the Region 8 Conference in January. Visit http://www.stcregion8conference.org for details.
  
  
• The topic for next month's meeting January 8 is "Does your thinking limit your success?"
  
  
• Walter reminded everyone of the www.stc.org resume section.
  
  
• Tania Mayer, from UCSD Extension, announced the new Certificate Program in Technical Communication. She provided a newsletter and course catalog for the
  taking. See www.extension.ucsd.edu for more information.

Guest Speaker: Silke Fleischer

Silke Fleischer presented "Get that Job! Creative Résumés that make you Stand Out." Silke is a Product Manager at eHelp Corporation, and a RoboHelp and RoboDemo expert. Silke is an STC member and has demonstrated products at several industry events. She has also been a featured
speaker at other national and international conferences, regional STC events, and chapter meetings.

Why Standard Résumés Fail

Traditional paper résumé tend to all look the same. Make your résumé stand out from all the others by creating an online résumé for an online job.

Dos and Don'ts for Interactive Résumés

An interactive résumé, also known as an online résumé, is a great tool for presenting yourself. Use it to show off your skills.

Some of the dos:

• Develop for 800x600 screen resolution.
• Add hyperlinks and relative paths.
• Add real examples of your work.
• Customize your online résumé for the job you are applying for (e.g., use corporate colors).
• Keep it short.
• Use sans serif fonts and relative font size.
• Include a printable one-page version of your résumé.

Some of the dont's:

• Do not add clip art, animation, or graphics with complex features.
• Take advantage of white space. Avoid cluttering the screen.
• Do not include your photo.
• Avoid CC and mass mailings of your résumé.

What to Include

When creating an online résumé, include the following components:

• Introduction to your online résumé
• Cover letter
• Resume and certificates
• Sample files and screen shots of previous work
• Multimedia examples
• Letters of recommendation
• Navigation and hyperlinks (e.g., where you received your certification, for example www.sdsu.edu)

How to Distribute Your Resume

• Internet. The Internet is a great way to distribute your résumé information. The pages are easy to publish and free Web space is available. Always test your pages before you distribute your URL.
  
  
• E-mail. E-mail is a great way to send information directly to the persons interested in hiring you. Compose your e-mail as your cover letter. Send only one file, making sure it will run on Windows. Generate a PDF version of your résumé. Compress or zip your file before sending.
  
  
• CD. Burn your résumé on a quality CD, and then test it. Create and print a custom label. Mail the CD along with a printed version of your résumé.
  
  
• Mail. When sending information via snail mail, assemble a package with the following items:

  * Document/media holder
  * Printed paper version of your résumé
  * Printer paper version of your cover letter
  * CD-ROM
  * Business card
  * Stamped addressed reply postcard

Tips and Tricks

While answering questions from the audience during the presentation, Silke added some helpful tips. Of special interest were the following:

• Convert files to HTML so that people can view them without specific applications.
• Don't block e-mail accounts and keep your files sizes manageable.
• Print highlights of your résumé on the back of your business card.

At the end of the presentation, Silke announced that eHelp will be conducting usability testing in January. For details, visit: www.ehelp.com.

Wrap Up

Walter Hanig thanked Silke for a wonderful presentation. Silke then conducted a drawing for a full copy of RoboDemo ($899 value), which was won by Tani Barbour.

This month's Wally Buck winner was Melanie Jennings.

See you at our next meeting!