WorkWise Interactive: Q&A

By Mildred L. Culp

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

Q: Dear Dr. Culp,

We're a group of retired police officers and federal agents, most exposed to gun fire, working in a security firm under a government contract. The company has instituted unrealistic hearing standards as a way to discriminate against older employees. Neither the FBI nor DEA uses them. Please direct. Taking Action

A: Dear Taking,

There's a lot of action ahead.

Become informed. Research the topic on a major search engine. In the top box, place these terms:

ADA

EEOC

hearing loss

security-guard, and

other terms that will shorten the list.

Send the link, with pages assigned, for co-workers to digest and report on to the group. Do they know anyone who might have been in a similar situation?

Conduct a meeting to discuss findings and strategies. Identify who makes contacts for advice, including the EEOC.

Appoint someone to find attorneys in employment law who charge on retainer or contingency. If necessary, contact the state or national bar association.

Throughout the process, keep in mind that resolution out of court saves money and grief. In that case, an attorney charging on contingency might not be a good bet, because he wouldn't be paid without winning a case.

ROUND TWO

Q: Dear Dr. Culp,

I'd like to thank you for responding to my recent request regarding my resume. Your advice was honest, forthcoming and most helpful. Is my second resume (attached) an improvement or at least on the right track? Expanding

A: Dear Expanding,

A career-change resume into the private sector differs from a government resume. It needs information that reflects an awareness of money, even if it's as little as a budget for office supplies. Also, use numbers to indicate the size of your team, the people you trained, the extent to a filing system you developed, or an approximation of the incoming calls answered and rerouted. Removing government terms, except where you list employment, is essential.

Incorporate results. Crediting teams, mention project outcomes. Did you meet deadlines? Did you improve efficiency? Don't write your degrees out. Abbreviate. A Master of Arts in Teaching should be an M.A.T.; a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a B.A., Political Science.

After you've made all of these changes, take a break and return with a fresh mind. Ask yourself, "So what?" after every phrase in your resume. That way you can be certain that the statements you make are results-oriented rather than merely descriptive.

That will give your resume some punch.

BlogTip

New grad Bridget Serchak of Arlington, Va., was looking for a job on Capitol Hill. She spent two days calling 100 Senate offices, both parties. She'd open with her name and reference to an open legislative position there and indicate that she was seeking more information. (She fudged, saying that she'd heard there was an opening, when she didn't. Not a good idea.) People responded with something like this:

"No, we don't have anything."

"No, we just filled a position. You're too late."

"Yes, we have an opening."

The most vivid call led to a receptionist who said that there might be changes in the making, including the possibility of her being fired.

"Then," Serchak writes, "she continued to rant and rave about her job and the possibility of it being open because she was going to be let go." A six-week search netted 12 interviews and a research assistant's job for a senator from Texas. Serchak left 14 months later and last summer returned to the federal government, a little differently this time. A friend from high school told her about an opening with the National Transportation Safety Board.

"No more cold calls for me!" she quips.

Dr. Mildred Culp welcomes your questions at culp@workwise.net.