All publications in this section in chronological order.

Guest Author Louise Fletcher founded Blue Sky Résumés after leaving a 15 year HR career. Her company provides job search coaching and résumé writing services to senior executives and arts, entertainment and creative professionals. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and a member of the Professional Resume Writers Association, the Career Masters Institute and Society for Human Resources Management.


You know the feeling. You spend hours, or even days, creating a résumé. You pore over every word of your cover letter and agonize over what to say in your email. Then you hit ‘send’ and wait. And wait. And wait. No one calls. No one writes.

You don’t know if anyone even saw your résumé. When this happens, it’s easy to get dejected and worry that employers are not interested in you. Don’t! Remember, they haven’t met you. They have only seen your résumé and that may be the problem.

An overwhelming majority of job seekers make basic mistakes with their résumés -­mistakes that ensure that they will not get the interviews they deserve. If you feel as though you’re sending your résumé into a black hole, try this ‘Ten Step Program’ to diagnose problems and get your résumé working for you.

1. Is your résumé the right length?

You may have heard that your résumé should fit on one page. This is nonsense. Recruiter or hiring managers don’t care if your résumé is one or two pages long. But they do care whether it is easy to read and gives key information upfront. Your résumé can be one, two, or (occasionally) even three pages. The only rule is that the length should be appropriate for you. If in doubt follow the (very general) rule of thumb that less than 5 years experience probably only requires one page and more than that may need two.

2. Does your résumé clearly position you as someone who can meet the needs of the employer?

Think of a résumé as an advertisement for a product, only this time the product is you. Just like any other advertisement, positioning is everything. The person who receives your résumé will scan it quickly perhaps for no more than 20 seconds to determine whether you can help her company. Your job is to say quickly, clearly and loudly that you can!

Don’t just launch into a chronology of your career history. Instead, determine your own positioning by spelling out your message at the start of the résumé and giving the reader your version of events upfront. For this reason, you should use the first 1/3 of your résumé to create a compelling personal profile which highlights your key strengths in an attractive, easy-to-read format.

3. Does your résumé begin with an objective?

Don’t start with an objective. Recruiters and hiring managers don’t like them because they focus on the needs of the job seeker rather than the needs of the potential employer. Consider this objective statement: “Seeking a software engineer position with a progressive employer where I can contribute to the development of new technologies and work with bright, committed people.”

This may be very honest but it is irrelevant to the reader, who does not care what you want and only cares what you have to offer. Instead of an objective, try using a positioning statement that clearly and concisely explains what you have to offer.

“Senior Software Engineer with 10 years experience developing leading-edge technologies.”

Now the reader can immediately see your value to the company. (For even greater impact, tailor this statement for each position so that the reader immediately sees a match between his/her needs and your skills.)

4. Does your résumé contain specifics?

You must place your achievements in context by providing specifics. For example, don’t say something vague like “contributed to product design.” This tells the employer nothing about your actual contribution. Instead be specific about what you did: “Conducted market analysis for (name of product) to determine design and mechanics. Led changes to original design spec. despite initial developer objections. Received critical acclaim and sold over 4 million units.” See how being specific makes a difference? This level of detail shows the reader the contributions you have made in the past (and therefore the contributions you can be expected to make in the future.)

5. Have you outlined achievements as well as responsibilities?


Don’t provide a laundry list of responsibilities without showing what results you achieved. Most employers already know what the main responsibilities of your job were. They want to know what makes you different from all the other applicants. An effective résumé summarizes job responsibilities in a few sentences and then provides details of quantifiable achievements.

Focus most of your résumé on the results you accomplished, not the regular duties of your job.


6. Are there any typos?

Your résumé has to be perfect. Proofread it over and over again. When you are sure it’s perfect, have other people proof it! If even one word is misspelled the reader will assume that you didn’t know how to spell the word (this is bad) or that you didn’t care (this is even worse!) Nothing puts the reader off more quickly than misspellings or typos.

7. Is the résumé easy to read?


At least 50% of the impact of your résumé derives from design. A strong résumé design will pull the eye through the document, making it easy to keep reading and will highlight your key strengths clearly. But if your résumé is badly laid out, disorganized or hard to read, it will be discarded before the reader knows how qualified you are.

To see examples of how to lay out your résumé, go to the library or bookstore and look in the career section. You will find collections of sample résumés. Take time to understand how the page has been laid out and then apply what you’ve learned to your résumé.

8. Have you listed irrelevant information?


Don’t list your hobbies unless they directly support your qualifications for the position. Don’t detail your marital status or the number of children you have. Don’t mention non-professional affiliations such as political or religious volunteer work unless it directly relates to the position you are applying for. Any personal information runs the risk of turning the reader off. However proud you are of personal achievements, you should not run the risk of alienating someone before you even have your foot in the door.

9. Are you too modest?

Don’t be uncomfortable about blowing your own trumpet. Too many people play down their achievements. While you should never exaggerate on a résumé, you should definitely take credit for the things you’ve accomplished. Some people feel uncomfortable boasting on paper preferring to explain in an interview. But if your résumé doesn’t spark interest, you may never get that opportunity, so don’t be modest!

10. Have you created an internet-ready version of résumé?

If you have to post your résumé online, or apply to a job via an online system, you will need to convert your résumé to a text-only format. If you don’t do this, your résumé will be almost impossible to read because most online systems cannot support the type of formatting used in a résumé (bold, italics, bullet points, lines etc.)

Focus on what you can give to a friend, not what you can get out of a friendship.

If being happy is your only motive for wanting someone to be your friend, then you are not being a real friend. Don't get caught up in keeping tabs on who has given most to the friendship. Give to your friends regardless of how much they give to you. You can make your friendship strong by giving gifts to your friends. It is not necessary that you only give them costly gifts. For a real and true friend, even a card can be more precious than the costliest gifts.

Encourage your friend

Real friends inspire and push each other to be the best at what they can be, rather than drag each other down. They are happy when their friends help them in their goals. You, too, should encourage your friend by bucking him up and by making him realize that yes, he can do it, and by giving him a strong supportive hand.

Be willing to forgive

Mostly friendships get feeble when there is no one willing to forgive. Due to this, the friendship crumbles and individual wounds turn to grudges. So forgive your friend and move on.

Tactfully point out their mistakes

Pointing out a friend's mistakes can also make him angry, but this is one way of showing concern for him. If you really care, tactfully point out his mistake for his own good. But once you've brought the problem to your friend's attention, don't harp on about it all the time.

Don't walk away

When you see some of your friend's faults be patient. Be patient as your friend tries to change. Realize that nobody is perfect.

Be reliable

First thing in a true friendship is to be honest and reliable. You must assure your friend that you will always be there for him/her. Likewise, you must not mistrust your friend because friendship is very vulnerable to distrust.

Don't try to control your friends

Real friendship does not mean you always have to be together. It may be tempting to have a fun person all to yourself, and you might feel threatened when your friend spends time with others. If you are afraid to let your friends out of your sight, you are probably afraid of losing them. Good friendship will endure time spent apart: you and your friends may learn to appreciate each other even more. So don't push your friend to spend all his time only with you. No one likes to be bossed around.

Be there for the good and the bad times

Friends are to share feelings with ... to share things which one cannot share with others, to celebrate with when you are excited - and also to share the downs of life with. Don't think that you are a friend only for the good times. When your friend is upset about something, you must give him your full attention. Lend your friend a sympathetic ear and understand his feelings; celebrate his happiness but also be a part of his sorrows.

Learn to accept personality differences

It is not necessary that your friend has to be exactly like you in personality, attitude and beliefs. Your friend can very well possess a different personality from you. So be careful not to expect your friend to be exactly like you. Accept and appreciate him for what he is - a unique individual, just like you are.

Don't be a blabbermouth

Sometimes, while talking to others, we get so excited that we spill our friend's secrets in front of others. This breaks your friend's trust (and rightly so too), and deteriorates your friendship. So learn to keep each other's secrets.

Don't let arguments destroy your friendship

Suppose you are having a discussion with a friend, and he disagrees with what you think is true. Don't keep arguing until you get mad at each other. Just drop the subject of conflict. Your desire to win the argument may ruin your friendship, so the easiest way of closing a controversial topic is to say, "Maybe you are right". Pointless discussions achieve nothing.

Friend: calls your parents by mr. and mrs.
Best friend: calls your parents dad and mom.

Friend: has never seen you cry
Best friend: has always had the best shoulder to cry on

Friend: never asks for anything to eat or drink
Best friend: opens the fridge and makes herself at home

Friend: asks you to write down your number.
Best friend: they ask you for their number
(cuz! they can't remember it)

Friend: borrows your stuff for a few days then gives it back.
Best friend: has a closet full of your stuff

Friend: only knows a few things about you
Best friend: could write a biography on your life story

Friend : will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing
Best friend: will always go with you
 

Before you think of saying an unkind word
Think of someone who can't speak

Before you complain about the taste of your food
Think of someone who has nothing to eat

Before you complain about your husband or wife
Think of someone who's crying out to God for a companion

Today before you complain about life
Think of someone who went too early to heaven

Before you complain about your children
Think of someone who desires children but they're barren

Before you argue about your dirty house; someone didn't clean or sweep
Think of the people who are living in the streets

Before whining about the distance you drive
Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet

And when you are tired and complain about your job
Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another
Remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down
Put a smile on your face and thank God you're alive and still around.

Life is a gift of GOD.
LIVE it....
ENJOY it......
CELEBRATE it.........
AND FULFILL it...............

Please click on the following link to download english translation of Illama Muhammad Iqbal's famouse "Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa" ...

Download Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa