Curriculum Vitae:

The curriculum vitae.  What the heck is that?!  It is a form of a resume that is used in several industries especially, education.  It is becoming more widely used in other industries.  The reason I bring it up is that it was an invaluable tool for me as I made my own transition from property management and homebuilding to writer/presenter/educator.

The reason I like the curriculum vitae is that it still contains the billboard feature (although less prominent) and it affords itself to your work experience.  However, it puts an equal or even greater focus on relevant experience and studies, which relate to the position you are seeking and less focus on past employment.  This is a great tool for helping to bridge the gap between two different careers.

Take a look at our Curriculum Vitae sample in the appendix at the end of this chapter to get a better idea of what I am talking about.

In general, the same rules apply to the Education section as we discussed in the resume discussion.  Just list the schools attended and degrees earned.  If you didn’t finish college, as I did not, just list the schools you attended. I don’t call attention to the fact that I didn’t get my degree.  The people looking at this are smart and will ask you about it if it is important to them.  If it is a non-starter for them, then it is.

Work Experience – Just list the dates, company names and position held for each firm . . . no more and no less.

Special Certifications/Affiliations – This is a great place to show how all your trainings and so on help you to be an asset for this company.  List everything here that you think will be relevant.  You will see in our sample in the Appendix that I have listed specific trainings and general things that will also cross over to any industry.

Presentations and Teaching – I created this section for my own needs because it demonstrated that I had exposure to teaching, speaking and presenting.  This section is basically a place for you to list accomplishments, which are relevant to the position you are seeking.  This is the place where, again, you continue to tie your accomplishments and experience forward to the position you are seeking.  Leave no stone unturned.  Sit and write down everything you have done and see how you can present it positively.  For example, my boss used to have me get up in front of our company at retreats and spend 2 minutes updating everyone on the progress of my project.  I listed that in this section as “Periodic Presentations to Company at Large”.   For a position in property management, you may want to head this section something like “Significant Projects Led and Completed” or “Significant Areas of Leadership”.

Publications – This is pretty self-explanatory.  If you have created, or been a part of creating any publications, list them here, and if not, delete the section.

Skills and Qualifications – This is nothing more than a mini billboard at the end of your curriculum vitae.  Use this to again sell the viewer on your incredible skills and qualifications, whether they are speaking, communication, or organizational skills.  This is also a good section to list computer literacy and competence with certain software and social websites.

References – This is no different from the resume: I subscribe to the idea that in your first exposure to folks, your mission is to make that great first impression.  It is not to overwhelm them with paper work.  I don’t include references with my resume but I do tell them that I will provide excellent ones if they would like.  Again, if this is an important issue for them, they will ask.

For a sample of our Curriculum Vitae, please see the appendix at the end of this chapter.

Marketing:

In the ever-changing landscape of the Internet, possibilities for marketing yourself are endless.  I won’t pretend to know all there is about Internet marketing and all the ins and outs.  For that you need to consult with some real gurus who do know the ins and outs of job search and marketing yourself on the Internet.

What I will share with you is this; most jobs are gotten through networking.  Once you have your resume or curriculum vitae all dialed in, it is time to get it out there.  I would recommend that you network to find the best places to post your resume/cv.  There are a lot of folks out there, not limited to friends and family, who have had experience with this and can steer you clear of the ones you don’t want to use.  Of course, they can also steer you to the good ones who worked best for them.

The usual suspects come to mind: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.  Get on these sites as soon as you can and increase your exposure as much and as quickly as you can.  Also, look for groups within the various web sites.  For instance, LinkedIn has a property management group as well as a discussion group for just about anything you can think of.  Use these groups to learn more about your field and start building a reputation for yourself as someone who knows what you are talking about.

Another avenue for building your reputation is writing.  For some of you, this may not be something that is part of your gift set, but if you don’t do it, you are missing out on a great opportunity to get your name out there and continue to build your reputation.

One of the avenues for writing is your own blog.  This is really easy with any of the zillion blog sites out there.  Another place is Ezine.com.  It is a website where you can write and publish articles on any subject and they have a built-in readership who will be exposed to your articles.  You do have to agree to (among other things) allow their other subscribers to use your articles as long as they give you credit for them.  One cautionary note here, if the purpose of your writing is to be a part of your marketing plan for yourself and your new career,  limit the subject matter of your articles to the field to which you want to transition.  If you want to write on other subjects, great . . . knock yourself out . . . but do it under a different name . . . add an initial or something.  Keep your job marketing pure to your field.

Thank you for reading!

Pat & Kris

For more information about Kris and Pat Larkin or for more resources for residential Property Management, visit their web site.