Did your mother ever tell you that you could be the President of the United States some day, if you really wanted to? So did mine. I got to wondering what presidents used to do before they were elected president. So I did some research… and it turns out it’s pretty boring: they were all lawyers and congressmen and the like. After digging a little deeper, I found an interesting sub-story: there are some Presidents that did things a little differently. This is their story.

1. Abraham Lincoln: Ferryboat Operator

Sure, I can see it. Leading a boat across a river over and over again is just like running a country… right? He also used to be the postmaster – that may make more sense if you consider the time period of his presidency. Postmasters were pretty important back in Lincoln’s time, and I’m sure Honest Abe had the integrity it took for such a position. I just can’t imagine the guy wearing anything other than a top hat!

2. William Harrison – Clerk of Hamilton County
Not a very exciting job… but how did President Harrison go from that role DIRECTLY to President of the United States? Man… that must have been some serious campaigning.

3. Zachary Taylor – Soldier
But here’s the thing – President Taylor was only a soldier. That’s it. Soldier, and President. I think that’s awesome – talk about serving your country your entire life! I’ve got a lot of respect for our armed forces, and talk about a great career move. I’ve got a few friends in the military, emergency city services (i.e. Firefighters) and the Coast Guard, and I can tell you they’re the friends losing the least amount of their hair during this recession.

4. Gerald Ford – Busboy, Male Model
Wait. Gerald Ford. Male Model? Are you kidding me? No seriously. Look at that guy. Although I suppose physical charisma goes a long way towards being our country’s leader. Although I personally think Clinton deserves to rot in hell, Tim Ferriss has a great article on what made Clinton great.

5. Harry Truman – Haberdasher
I just love the name “Haberdasher” Truman was actually one of several presidents who came from clothing and tailoring, since the industry was such a huge boon to our young Country. I just didn’t see any of the others referred to as “Haberdasher” – awesome.

6. Jimmy Carter – Peanut Farmer
I didn’t know Georgia was where Peanuts were grown. It must have been passed down from his family. Farmers have long term residual income that can sustain a family for generations. I’ve always been an admirer of this lifestyle – you earn what you grow. It’s as simple as that (if you’re a farmer, please don’t write me an angry email. I know it’s not that simple).

7. Ronald Reagan – Actor, Lifeguard, Radio Announcer

This is an easy one. Reagan holds arguably the most well-known former professions out of all our illustrious Presidents. Again… it’s all in the charisma. If you can sell an audience, you can sell a country. It’s not Voodoo. Get it? Yeah… sorry.

8. James Garfield – Carpenter, Janitor

Wait. Janitor? This one just doesn’t make much sense. I can’t see how anything relates to Presidential duties… oh, except for cleaning up other people’s messes, of course. I imagine our next President will certainly have his fair share of cleaning up to do!

9. Herbert Hoover – Geologist
Worrying about the earth… to worrying about the earth! Total natural transition.. right?

10. Calvin Coolidge – Toymaker

I’m pretty sure Calvin Coolidge produced Indian Bats – and that makes him the coolest President of them all.

ResumeBucket's Last Business Meeting

ResumeBucket is a remote work environment. We all work from home offices across the country, but there are several of us in the greater Los Angeles area. We try to get together 3 or 4 times a month to discuss our current projects, initiatives, and throw down some serious BBQ.  They’re all great people and I love them to death. We all started this company together. We were drawn together because we all saw something of ourselves in one another – intelligent, driven, entrepreneurial, and internet-savvy. A lot of us share common friends and interests in music, sports, and favorite brands of whiskey.

But does our comraderie really make us more effective as business owners? It’s so easy for us to segway into non-productive conversations, and the fact that we’re all friends makes it more difficult for us to discipline and manage one another when someone makes a bad decision or stops pulling their weight.

I started thinking back on previous work relationships where my colleagues were brought together by circumstances outside of our direct control – i.e. a typical business environment where managers and executives determine who is hired and who works who whom. I see a lot of power in that non-personal relationship. The number of factors required to work together is reduced: say the company just tries to hire for intelligence instead of who gets along with whom. In these scenarios I’ve had much less in common with my co-worker, and oftentimes we only share 1 common interest – our continued employment. It makes it so much easier to focus on the task at hand when you’re both good at your job and you’re forced to respect one another’s different cultures and lifestyles.

Just something to chew on. When choosing who to work with, whether you’re building your own team or looking for the proper fit in the workplace – try to focus on an individual’s professional abilities before anything else.

So you’ve got your resume online on ResumeBucket.com. Any employer in the world can view it and connect with you. Now what?

Getting in front of prospective employers can often times be more difficult than the jobs you are applying for! There are thousands of ways to get in to a new job, both standard and unique.

The most important aspect of a job search is understanding the different tools at your disposal and maximizing your exposure. You need to be networking with everyone. You never know when Aunt May’s next door neighbor is the sister of an Executive at a company hiring for your dream job. Here are some tools and tips from the ResumeBucket team to help you get the most out of your job search.

• Networking
  • Facebook – Don’t listen to anyone who tells you Facebook isn’t relevant for job posting: it is. Your own personal network is probably bigger than you think it is. We recommend sharing your Resume to your friends and family about once a month – just to remind them to keep their ears open for new possibilities for you. You’d be astonished at how effective this can be.
  • Networking Events – More specifically, get out there! Your community is a big one. Pay attention to local gatherings in your industry, and also try to get more familiar with your community through events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis or other social voluntier organisation, or even the local Jogging group. The more people you know, the higher your chances of finding a job that works for you.
• Stand Out! Brand your Email Address
  • You’re going to be applying for jobs and sending a lot of emails. You want those emails to be simple, effective, and professional. A link to your resume in every email you send effectively demonstrates your willingness to work without having to attach a bulky Word or PDF document. It also makes you stand out from others applying to those same jobs. When recruiters have sometimes hundreds of resumes to review, a little something different can go a long way!
  • We recommend WiseStamp for creating a professional email signature: http://wisestamp.com/goodies/add-social-services/resumebucket/
  • 
• Apply, apply, apply
  • We know it’s frustrating, but it must be done. We recommend using ResumeBucket’s job search tool every day when searching for a job. Thousands of new jobs are posted every day, and being one of the first applicants can be a huge deciding factor in getting an interview. The search bar is right at the top of this page. Try to search only a few words at a time to get the most of out of your search.
• Groups and Communities
  • There are tens of thousands of online communitites that talk to one another every day about their professional interests. Most of these communities are very open to newcomers. Find forums and groups that fit your job interests and get involved! And be sure to include a link to your professional resume whenever you get a chance. This is often how recruiters can find top notch candidates – if recruiters are looking for you there, you’ll want to make it easy for them to get in touch with you.

‘Tis the season… to get ahead.

I was on the phone with a reporter yesterday who was asking me about tips for finding jobs during the holidays. “Yes,” I said, “from what I can see it’s going pretty well. We’re getting more and more job postings every day on ResumeBucket. Companies are hiring for the new year. Particularly there is growth in technology and finance jobs.” Then, she asked me a question that really got me thinking.

“So you’re saying people should look for jobs now, even though people are going away for the holidays?”

I was dumbstruck. It took me a few moments to respond, and I’m the kind of guy that really likes to talk. This woman was suggesting that she expected people to wait around during the holidays because no one else was working.

I’ve worked my entire career. It’s easy. You spend a small part of your day figuring out what you have to do, and a larger part of your day getting those things done. Create a list, knock it down. It’s simple. If I’m at work, I’m either creating work or completing it. How many times have I taken off more than a few days for the holidays? I can’t even remember the last time.

Here’s the thing – how is the fact that other people don’t work during the holidays a bad thing? Back when I used to work in the corporate world, I used to relish this time of year. Why would I use my precious vacation days when everyone else was using their time off? That’s silly! Do you know how much more work you can get done when half of your office is off drinking egg nog and hanging missletoe? I’ll give you a hint – it’s more than when they’re there.

The same applies for the unemployed. Let me give you a hint, people. Employers don’t like employees that take time off every chance they get. If you’re not employed, then looking for a job is your FULL TIME JOB. 8 hours a day. Make yourself do it. Prove to people that you don’t quit, that you’re a hard worker, that you put in your time and go the extra mile. This is NOT a vacation. You AREN’T getting paid for it.

Or, look at it this way. Maybe 20 to 40 percent of hiring departments are on vacation right now – sure. But so is 20 to 40 percent of your competition. Less competition means more results.

So forget a New Year’s Resolution – use this time when everyone else is relaxing to work double time. Kill it. Right now is when people are really paying attention.  And you can start at our sample resumes section of ResumeBucket.  Don’t wait, do it now.

Did your mother ever tell you that you could be the President of the United States some day, if you really wanted to? So did mine. I got to wondering what presidents used to do before they were elected president. So I did some research… and it turns out it’s pretty boring: they were all lawyers and congressmen and the like. After digging a little deeper, I found an interesting sub-story: there are some Presidents that did things a little differently. This is their story.

1. Abraham Lincoln: Ferryboat Operator

Sure, I can see it. Leading a boat across a river over and over again is just like running a country… right? He also used to be the postmaster – that may make more sense if you consider the time period of his presidency. Postmasters were pretty important back in Lincoln’s time, and I’m sure Honest Abe had the integrity it took for such a position. I just can’t imagine the guy wearing anything other than a top hat!

2. William Harrison – Clerk of Hamilton County
Not a very exciting job… but how did President Harrison go from that role DIRECTLY to President of the United States? Man… that must have been some serious campaigning.

3. Zachary Taylor – Soldier
But here’s the thing – President Taylor was only a soldier. That’s it. Soldier, and President. I think that’s awesome – talk about serving your country your entire life! I’ve got a lot of respect for our armed forces, and talk about a great career move. I’ve got a few friends in the military, emergency city services (i.e. Firefighters) and the Coast Guard, and I can tell you they’re the friends losing the least amount of their hair during this recession.

4. Gerald Ford – Busboy, Male Model
Wait. Gerald Ford. Male Model? Are you kidding me? No seriously. Look at that guy. Although I suppose physical charisma goes a long way towards being our country’s leader. Although I personally think Clinton deserves to rot in hell, Tim Ferriss has a great article on what made Clinton great.

5. Harry Truman – Haberdasher
I just love the name “Haberdasher” Truman was actually one of several presidents who came from clothing and tailoring, since the industry was such a huge boon to our young Country. I just didn’t see any of the others referred to as “Haberdasher” – awesome.

6. Jimmy Carter – Peanut Farmer
I didn’t know Georgia was where Peanuts were grown. It must have been passed down from his family. Farmers have long term residual income that can sustain a family for generations. I’ve always been an admirer of this lifestyle – you earn what you grow. It’s as simple as that (if you’re a farmer, please don’t write me an angry email. I know it’s not that simple).

7. Ronald Reagan – Actor, Lifeguard, Radio Announcer

This is an easy one. Reagan holds arguably the most well-known former professions out of all our illustrious Presidents. Again… it’s all in the charisma. If you can sell an audience, you can sell a country. It’s not Voodoo. Get it? Yeah… sorry.

8. James Garfield – Carpenter, Janitor

Wait. Janitor? This one just doesn’t make much sense. I can’t see how anything relates to Presidential duties… oh, except for cleaning up other people’s messes, of course. I imagine our next President will certainly have his fair share of cleaning up to do!

9. Herbert Hoover – Geologist
Worrying about the earth… to worrying about the earth! Total natural transition.. right?

10. Calvin Coolidge – Toymaker

I’m pretty sure Calvin Coolidge produced Indian Bats – and that makes him the coolest President of them all.

Back in college, my friend’s father lost his job at a Steel Manufacturing company in Pennsylvania. “Big deal,” I said. “Why doesn’t he just go get another one?”

My friend got very upset with me (and, in retrospect, he had good reason to do so). He claimed it wasn’t that easy – that his father had performed a niche manufacturing job for over 35 years, and it wasn’t that simple to transfer that skill set to another industry overnight – especially in Pittsburgh, where any job at all was hard to come by.

That’s why I think it’s a good idea when selecting a job (or, more importantly, a career) to consider not just what jobs are available now, but what jobs will be available for the rest of your working years.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, labor projections are predicted to have steady growth in several niche industries. Of the 21 million new jobs expected in 2012, more than 20 million will be in the service-providing industries, while 1 million will be in goods producing industries. That’s a good starting ground for considering your career – Americans of the future will be expected to provide trained service, as opposed to manufacturing (and everything that goes around manufacturing, such as managing a toothpaste packing company).

The largest area of growing industries seems to be Health Services, and for good reason, as the baby boomer generation is beginning to reach retirement age. Think about how many more diabetic needles and heart monitoring technology this country will need to develop and produce over the next decade!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, child care services will also rise dramatically. The number of children under the age of 5 is growing, as is the number of two-income families. That means a large increase in child care services. So, if you’re looking to be a nurse or a nanny, you’ve made the right decision.

Not into taking care of other people? Fear not… technology is also on the rise, to no surprise. Computer systems design and related services will look to grow 55% over the next year. That’s… a lot. Can’t go wrong there – you might want to sharpen up your HTML and Photoshop skills!

While these industries are growing, of course there are other industries starting to wilt away. At the top of the list is the manufacturing field, expected to be hit hard next year with a decrease of 245,000 jobs (a decrease of 69%). Face it… manufacturing is going overseas. If you want to stay in this industry, you may consider following the work to India or China in order to train that industry’s new workers.

More Top Employers, Including Proctor & Gamble, Signing-on to Find Candidates

LOS ANGELES–Nov. 1, 2010 — ResumeBucket.com, the fastest growing free online employment service, today announced a new suite of Premium Services for employers to find top tier job candidates. Incorporating advanced search tools, bookmarking capabilities and embeddable job widgets, these new features enhance the resources available to HR managers and recruiters. Building on the existing free tools, the new services give companies more effective access to thousands of qualified candidates and to post open employment opportunities.

“In the current climate each and every hire an HR manager makes has to be that much more effective and they have to get the most ROI on each and every candidate,” said Ted Hekman, CEO, ResumeBucket. “With ResumeBucket’s new Premium Services it’s now even easier for an employer to find the best possible candidate for the roles they are looking to fill.”

To further refine search efforts using ResumeBucket, employers can now also take advantage of the new Premium Services. At a fraction of the cost of competitive services, the new offerings, available for only $19.99, make it easy to review and manage qualified candidates’ resumes, including:

• Advanced Search

HR managers and recruiters can now mine the ResumeBucket database like never before, with the ability to search by name, company, experience, core skills, job title and a variety of other parameters.

• Track and comment

Employers can create their own database and make personal comments on candidate resumes, or simply bookmark candidates for future follow-up.

• Job Widget

Employers can now also add a new widget on their own website, making it easy to create a recruitment portal from their ResumeBucket job postings.

ResumeBucket’s current free services are accessed by thousands of employers – ranging from Fortune 100s to smaller, local businesses across a range of industries – to fill their HR needs. Companies including Proctor & Gamble, Accenture, CBS, Dell, Ford/Mercury, GE Healthcare, Intel and countless other employers continue to leverage ResumeBucket’s service to search for and review qualified candidates. Additionally, employers currently send thousands of messages every day to qualified candidates regarding potential opportunities using ResumeBucket.

ResumeBucket continues to lead the way in the employment services market, working closely with its more than 1800 employer partners to conduct research on the state of employment. A recent HR survey revealed that 93.5% of respondents are looking to hire in the current quarter (Q4 2010).

ResumeBucket also empowers candidates to build their personal brand, get noticed and better represent themselves to future employers by providing a free personal website where they can quickly upload, edit, publish, share and track views of their resume online.

Anyone looking to take advantage of the online services can register now by visiting www.ResumeBucket.com.

About Resume Bucket

ResumeBucket is the fastest growing free online employment service. Helping job seekers build a personal brand and better represent themselves to future employers, ResumeBucket provides each candidate their own website where they can easily post, edit, share and track their resume online. Nearly 400,000 people have already taken advantage and published their resume using the free service.

ResumeBucket is also a resource, accessed by more than 1000 top employers to regularly search qualified resumes and post open positions for free and to manage their searches using premium services. ResumeBucket is currently used by companies of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 100s, including Proctor & Gamble, Accenture, CBS, Dell, Ford/Mercury, GE Healthcare, Intel, Sears Holdings, Time Warner, Twitter, Waste Management and Yahoo!

For more information, please visit www.ResumeBucket.com.

It always amazes me how big the world is. I mean, really sit back and think about it. Think about all the places you’ve visited. How many roads you’ve driven down, how many countries you’ve traveled to, how many faceless people flying by on the freeway every day – and you’ve only seen  a small fraction of the whole, spoken to even less, and actually had a good relationship with only a handful of them (if you’re as much of a dick as I am, anyway).  What do they all do for money? I mean, seriously. There are THAT many jobs out there? That’s so many lives criss-crossing, introducing one another, making money together, hiring and firing, it just blows my mind.

When I was a recruiter, I thrived on these relationships. Friend, co-worker, Joe’s Aunt Sally, it didn’t matter. Any referral was a good referral. As a recruiter, I spent so much time developing this network, it became a valuable asset that I was able to charge hiring managers tens of thousands of dollars for access into my exclusive club of “friends”. Who is hiring who? How can I get an introduction to Asif the Technology Guru (whom I know is hiring) through my buddy who works in their Accounting department?

The reason good recruiters leverage their networks like this is because it’s VALUABLE. As a job seeker, I don’t see why you should do things any different.  Don’t just try to reach out to companies through job boards and emails with your resume (in PDF and DOC, just in case!) in hopes that they will select you out of the other 100 people applying to the same position and having to jump through the same opening hurdle (AKA the in house recruiter who really doesn’t give a shit and is only going to go through those resumes until she finds 3 she likes – then she’s going to the break room for twinkies).

Ask your friends through social networking. Remind them once a week with a quick Facebook update (you could do it through ResumeBucket if you like, and cut out the need for those messy .doc resumes). Be more active on blog sites of interest to you and get THOSE people into your network of friends, and remind them what you can do, too!

Make a point of going out with people you haven’t seen in awhile once a week. I did this as a recruiter like it was my religion – you always come up with new ideas, ways to work together, “oh, you know, you should actually talk to so-and-so, I think they were looking for someone like that…” – see what I’m saying?

Get out there. Referrals are HUGE. Huge! People pay attention when Johnny in accounting knows you (oftentimes even if they don’t like Johnny very much), and you’ll instantly get through one of the hardest hurdles in the job hunting business – the front door.

Survey Reveals What Employers and Recruiters are Looking for in Q4 and Beyond

LOS ANGELES – Oct. 13, 2010 – ResumeBucket, the fastest-growing free online employment service, today announced the results of a study revealing what recruiters were searching for in the third quarter of 2010 (Q3). Compiled from a two-part study, ResumeBucket first reviewed the top 100 typed keywords most searched by recruiters looking for candidates. The top keywords and the industries they relate to were then categorized as follows:

Armed with the keyword results and top industries, the second half of the study included a survey sent to 1,500 HR managers and recruiters of the employers that currently use ResumeBucket’s services. The 10 question survey sampled recruiters’ plans for hiring in Q4 and into 2011; what stands out in a resume; and what tools they use to find candidates. Some of the key findings include:

• 93.5% of respondents plan on hiring in Q4 2010
  • 46% of those looking to hire 1-5 employees
  • 41.4% looking for 10 or more employees.
  • 51.6% of employers said that “Results stated in the candidate’s experience” was the most eye-catching aspect they looked for on a resume – several times the second most common result, the list of Previous Employers, at 17.6%, and the third most common, tailored content for the job, at 13.2%.
  • Only 2.2% of employers identified a candidate’s school as the most important area of a resume.
  • 87.4% of our employers primarily search for candidates on online Job Boards, as opposed to newspapers (4.6%), Trade Publications (2.3%), and professional recruiting or staffing services (5.7%).
  • 15% of Employers had made a hire through ResumeBucket within the past 3 months.

For more information about the study, or for a detailed results breakdown, contact ResumeBucket at info@resumebucket.com.

About Resume Bucket

ResumeBucket is the fastest growing free online employment service. Helping job seekers build a personal brand and better represent themselves to future employers, ResumeBucket provides each candidate their own website where they can easily post, edit, share and track their resume online. Nearly 300,000 people have already taken advantage and published their resume using the free service.

ResumeBucket is also a resource, accessed for free, by more than 1000 top employers to regularly search qualified resumes and post open positions. ResumeBucket is currently used by companies of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 100s, including Accenture, CBS, Dell, Ford/Mercury, GE Healthcare, Intel, Sears Holdings, Time Warner, Twitter, Waste Management and Yahoo!

For more information, please visit www.ResumeBucket.com.

Co-Founder of ResumeBucket Ted Hekman discusses tips and advice for helping you build a better resume in order to be noticed better by employers.

If you need more help creating a resume, I strongly suggest you use our Resume Writing Services. Our writers are top notch and very affordable.