I love Technology Conferences!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">submitted by Fiona Beal</span></em><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recently we have had a virtual Global Education Conference taking place which was really great (</span><a href="http://globaleducation.ning.com/" title="http://globaleducation.ning.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://globaleducation.ning.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">), but this led me to to think about other technology <em>face-to-face</em> conferences I have attended this year and how I have benefitted from them. To tell the truth I REALLY love face-to-face technology conferences. There is just nothing that compares with seeing friends and colleagues that you don’t normally get to see at these conferences, shaking their hands and catching up on life and technology matters. One can also ask a myriad of questions and find out so much when it is face-to-face. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two face-to-face technology conferences from this year that I haven’t written about yet, so I am going to write about those now. Both of them were held at schools. They used the excellent services of </span><a href="http://www.edtechconf.co.za/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">EdTechConf</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> to help them plan their conferences.</span> </span> <br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Edtechconf Extended @ Elkanah</strong></span> </span></span> <br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The first conference was held at Elkanah House in Table View, Cape Town in October.  Honestly...what a school! They are leaders in technology integration, of that there is no doubt. That marvellous ICT Department of theirs, under the guidance of EdTechConf, produced a brilliant conference.  Their goal was to attract teachers in the classroom who are just starting the journey of integrating technology with the curriculum. They also made a point of using local Cape Town teachers to share what they are doing with technology integration.</span> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> Here is a photo of four of the six Elkanah House technology team members.</span> </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6azRnr8pGaDPY1TvNz0JvN3k64IHWIPXw7XE9MQwBQ9Tg0hTBA92WBfoEfUyo1CzFWcc5NhpnvQm-tja5e7hKwKrzD9GIY6LP-p2UfgsThsjGxlABQIJpqpvdFMPrDLAT6-3Y8lOink/s1600/elkanah+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6azRnr8pGaDPY1TvNz0JvN3k64IHWIPXw7XE9MQwBQ9Tg0hTBA92WBfoEfUyo1CzFWcc5NhpnvQm-tja5e7hKwKrzD9GIY6LP-p2UfgsThsjGxlABQIJpqpvdFMPrDLAT6-3Y8lOink/s320/elkanah+team.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maryne (left) Karen (third left) Juanita (2nd from right) Linda (3rd from right) </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Keynote speakers</strong></span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Kobus van Wyk </u></span><a href="http://www.e4africa.co.za/" title="http://www.e4africa.co.za/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(http://www.e4africa.co.za/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">), of Khanya fame in the Western Cape, set the tone as the opening keynote speaker. He talked about ICT being an add-in and not an add-on. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">There were three other keynote speakers:<br />* <u>Arthur Preston</u> (</span><a href="http://headthoughts.co.za/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://headthoughts.co.za/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) who is a co-founder of EdTechConf and who has been appointed as the new Elkanah House principal in 2012, spoke on The Technophobe Family, <br />* <u>Nicholas  Hall</u>, a social media candidate attorney, spoke about copyright law etc for educationists <br />*<u>Tim Keller</u> (</span><a href="http://timk.co.za/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://timk.co.za/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">), a software developer of ‘Staffroom’ fame and a co-founder of EdTechConf spoke on 'The School of the Future' . All were outstanding presentations.</span> <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYC6RIRWbtS5UuPc_lPhhOXiHeAXBFnLR5XygWpRATk9ZavxoeOiEZP0xhkRwKMhA-qGH4kbok0WvXApiCD-JJe1BnZZc0BL32i6lTJdLnnWLP75U6YONSc_EtK9gMqx2BbnxJ_LU-Hc/s1600/kobus+and+tim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYC6RIRWbtS5UuPc_lPhhOXiHeAXBFnLR5XygWpRATk9ZavxoeOiEZP0xhkRwKMhA-qGH4kbok0WvXApiCD-JJe1BnZZc0BL32i6lTJdLnnWLP75U6YONSc_EtK9gMqx2BbnxJ_LU-Hc/s320/kobus+and+tim.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim Keller and Kobus van Wyk</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Presentations and workshops</span></strong> <br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Maggie Verster</u>, (</span><a href="http://maggiev.edublogs.org/" title="http://maggiev.edublogs.org/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://maggiev.edublogs.org/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) our own South African social networking expert, ran the Twitter backchannel. She used her bubbly enthusiasm to get as many of the delegates as possible using Twitter since Twitter is a really great educational resource tool. Maggie also created a Conference blog to upload some of the presentations </span><a href="http://elkedtechconf.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://elkedtechconf.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and a Picasa site for all the photos </span><a href="http://bit.ly/sVXqjA" title="http://bit.ly/sVXqjA "><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://bit.ly/sVXqjA </span></a>.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Here is Maggie’s presentation on <em>Bookmarking using Diigo</em></span> </span><br /><div id="__ss_9488352" style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/edtechconf/social-bookmarking-9488352" target="_blank" title="Social bookmarking"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Social bookmarking</span></a></strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/9488352" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">View more </span><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">presentations</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> from </span><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/edtechconf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Edtechconf @Elkanah</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What I really liked about the conference was the three teacher-panel sessions. These were local teachers who shared what they are doing in the classroom. Each panel had about 3 or 4 teachers and they spoke for about 15 minutes followed by a time of questions from the floor. The conference delegates loved these panels. One of the panels involved the Microsoft Innovative Teacher finalists and winners who happened to live in Cape Town, and wow! did they bring energy and enthusiasm with them.  You can just see what that competition does to teachers! (Read </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/The%20Partners%20in%20Learning%20Middle%20East%20Innovative%20Education%20Forum%20took%20place%20in%20Aqaba,%20Jordan%20last%20week"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">.about the success of these Innovative teacher finalists when they represented South Africa in Jordan at the Partners in Learning Middle East and Africa Innovative Education Forum in Jordan in September). Here is a photo of Maggie with some of the Innovative Teacher finalists.</span> </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4x0-pkTYoGOF7eiLhMRbMqKuQoGK1aOamD091kh8OV8FOfjcG686cuJYRnMfDZrFD_uoZ3CXcaD1xoCal7bk2irITX34WPwBuu8eXMAxjaVuYRwkMXVmaYKU6sDSgThW4DQeqJRHP18/s1600/maggie+and+co.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4x0-pkTYoGOF7eiLhMRbMqKuQoGK1aOamD091kh8OV8FOfjcG686cuJYRnMfDZrFD_uoZ3CXcaD1xoCal7bk2irITX34WPwBuu8eXMAxjaVuYRwkMXVmaYKU6sDSgThW4DQeqJRHP18/s320/maggie+and+co.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maggie (left) Lisa (2nd left) Kim and Louise</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I must mention that a highlight of the teacher's panels for me (and others) was <u>Nicole Masureik's</u> presentation.  She spoke about her project with Grade 11s at Pinelands High School where she is conducting a cell phone trial with two Grade 11 classes - Maths and Life Sciences. This is an incredible project really worth following. </span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><div id="__ss_9479164" style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/edtechconf/cell-phone-trial-in-school-ed-techconf-nim" target="_blank" title="Cell phone trial in school ed techconf nim">Cell phone trial in school ed techconf nim</a></strong> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/9479164" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0px 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/edtechconf" target="_blank">Edtechconf @Elkanah</a> </div></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The workshop sessions, of which there were quite a choice, also gave teachers a chance to practise using different tools. I am going to add the presentations that have been made public in this space. </span><br /><div id="__ss_9498770" style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/edtechconf/simones-presentation" target="_blank" title="Simone's presentation:Technology in my Art Room">Simone's presentation:Technology in my Art Room</a></strong> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/9498770" width="425"></iframe> <br />View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/edtechconf" target="_blank">Edtechconf @Elkanah</a> </div><br /><div id="__ss_9470769" style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/34-ideas-for-a-classroom-blog" target="_blank" title="34 ideas for a classroom blog">34 ideas for a classroom blog</a></strong> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/9470769" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0px 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">fionabeal</a> </div></div><br /><div id="__ss_10278564" style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/microsofts-free-tools" target="_blank" title="Microsoft's Free Tools">Microsoft's Free Tools</a></strong> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/10278564" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0px 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">fionabeal</a> </div></div><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Teachmeets introduced</span></strong><br /><br />Elkanah House also announced their intention to start Teachmeets for local teachers (<a href="http://teachmeet-southafrica.wikispaces.com/">http://teachmeet-southafrica.wikispaces.com</a>)  by having a quick demonstration of a Teachmeet. Read about Teachmeets <a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-not-hold-teachmeet-in-your-area.html" target="_blank">here</a>.  In face they are having their second Teachmeet this coming Saturday 26<span style="font-size: small;">^th November. I'll be writing about their Teachmeets in another blogpost. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span><br /><br />I think this conference generated a lot of energy and possibly larger numbers of teachers will attend future conferences when they hear about what they missed. But, as <u>Karen Stadler</u>, one of the ICT team at Elkanah House highlighted in her blogpost about the event: <br />"Key points that came out of this conference were:<br />* Buy-in from school management is vital (sadly very few principals attended our conference).<br />* Technology needs to be an integral part of teaching today as our students are born tech savvy (digital natives)<br />* It must be an add-in not an add-on<br />* Teachers should start small, choose one aspect/topic and use technology to enhance it<br />* Baby steps… Take that first step!" <br /><a href="http://karenstadler.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/what-a-conference/">http://karenstadler.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/what-a-conference/</a> <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtkY_YNzWCb9pWUtqDjObTZhMgBAVl2ve093xNV8sy5qA8eS6Nz95Hx7720usDG2iViygTwDmKV8JyTXVzljzhXXWLjLprY75aHegW-NPgG2qOCG34mJx7Tfr3oKpnIuDZ6HNmsnNRZ8/s1600/DSCF6140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtkY_YNzWCb9pWUtqDjObTZhMgBAVl2ve093xNV8sy5qA8eS6Nz95Hx7720usDG2iViygTwDmKV8JyTXVzljzhXXWLjLprY75aHegW-NPgG2qOCG34mJx7Tfr3oKpnIuDZ6HNmsnNRZ8/s320/DSCF6140.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kim and Loise sharing about their winning project </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Edtechconf Extended @ Cornwall Hill</strong></span><br /><br />This was the second technology conference I attended at a school in October. It was great! Once again it was wonderful to connect face-to-face with friends from around the country for a catch-up time.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNj4BCeSBlv4V-ww3F2FB8z6JEp_b-FOXE1fKVuS4jqTBaUOspuZillYLXB3472sZtruR19nwnaGGl8lk5utkKNfh6Dl-HkFA2jiq_mn8QCm6OD_9SrwKAgVXVH5-wprhl20_7tiu4oh4/s1600/DSCF8010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNj4BCeSBlv4V-ww3F2FB8z6JEp_b-FOXE1fKVuS4jqTBaUOspuZillYLXB3472sZtruR19nwnaGGl8lk5utkKNfh6Dl-HkFA2jiq_mn8QCm6OD_9SrwKAgVXVH5-wprhl20_7tiu4oh4/s320/DSCF8010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natalie (left) Linda (2nd left) Fiona (2nd right) and Debbie</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The only problem is there is no record of it anywhere that I can find.  I think a Conference blog is such a good idea at a conference as the experience lives on through it.   The conference followed the same Edtechconf pattern as before. The three highlights for me were:<br />*a inspirational talk by <u>Pepe Marais</u>  <a href="http://sharpeningmypencil.tumblr.com/">http://sharpeningmypencil.tumblr.com/</a> founder of 'One School at a time') <br />*<u>Dr Adele Botha</u> on the use of cell phones at school<br />* The teacher panel sharing their projects. <br /><br />Well, to close my post let me say - let’s face it – technology is here to stay! We need to embrace it in education. There is no other route.     </div>

conferences I love Technology Conferences!

submitted by Fiona BealRecently we have had a virtual Global Education Conference taking place which was really great (http://globaleducation.ning.com/), but this led me to to think about other technology face-to-face conferences I have attended this…

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Turning a lot of experience into an effective résumé

<br /><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -30px;"><div style="color: #333333; font: italic normal normal 16px/normal arial, helvetica;"><span id="cbArticle_lblHeadline2">How to use a varied work history to your advantage</span></div><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer</span></b><br /></div><div class="ArticleContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Perhaps, generations ago, students graduated from college and found jobs related to their majors. They stayed at these jobs for several years before moving on to the next job, which was still in the same industry but hopefully a step up.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">For today's workers, the path is less clear. Whether or not you go to college, your work history probably has quite a bit of variety in it. The workplace is constantly changing and, thanks to technology, jobs are disappearing and being created all the time. Ten years ago no one was a<a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/social+media+manager/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">social media manager</a>, but today people who spent years as <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/public+relations/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">public relations</a>, <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/marketing/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">marketing</a> and<a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/journalism/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">journalism</a> are spending their days on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Once you factor in the recent recession and the dot-com bubble burst, workers are laid off and scramble to find new jobs, even if they're in new fields.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A varied work history is today's norm, but it doesn't always make for easy job hunting. Employers are skittish about hiring workers who jump from job to job or whose career appears to lack focus. Employers want a worker who is looking to establish a career, not chase a paycheck.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We asked career experts to weigh in with their best advice for job seekers looking to turn their unique combination of experience into an asset, not a hindrance:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"The best way to showcase your skills, especially if they are diverse and range quite a bit is to try to lump them together. Try to find the common ground -- are you helping people, for example? You can likely lump those skills in your profile under a bullet or in one sentence by stating you are adept at helping others and then list some of those skills.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Today's hiring managers know people have a wide range of experience and that they have jumped around -- so long as you show that those experiences meet the needs of the job, it helps. This is also why many people have multiple résumés; you can tweak the wording to separate your skills over a few resumes and then apply to a specific job that fits that skillset." - <i>Kristen Fischer, a freelance <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/copywriter/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">copywriter</a> and <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/editor/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">editor</a></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"As a former career adviser and now image consultant where I still help people with their résumés, I always recommend in this situation to do two things:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Keep a master résumé: a master résumé is one that is for the job seeker's eyes only. This is not a résumé that is sent out to employers. Include in it every type of work and experience you've done. It can be as long as 20 pages and it won't matter because it will only be used to pull items from. When designing the résumé that will be sent out, pick and choose items from the master resume that are relevant to the job for which you are applying.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Have two experience sections on your résumé, one called 'Relevant Experience' or 'Related Experience' with relevant jobs/job duties listed under it, and then a section called 'Additional Experience' with other past jobs that are only somewhat relevant listed under it. This allows you to move your most relevant experience toward the top of the page while still keeping it in reverse chronological order since each separate section will be listed in reverse chronological order." <i>- Lori Bumgarner, owner of Nashville-based consulting firm paNASH Style</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Your résumé has to tell me a story about you and what you like to do. I don't mind seeing evolution, but I do mind seeing a lack of clear focus on a résumé. For instance: I was looking to hire someone in <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/production/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">production</a>, when I saw a résumé that showed a path that included production or some exposure to production that showed me that this person was learning as he [or] she went along. But if the résumé jumped from assistant <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/teacher+aide/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">teachers' aide</a> to <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/bus+driver/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">bus driver</a> to <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/mail+room/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">mail room</a> then I know this person is job hopping to whatever is easy to land for them. This is a person who wants a job not a career." <i>- Kathi Elster, co-author of "Working with You is Killing Me" and "Working for You isn't Working for Me"</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"The most important concept to keep in mind when preparing a résumé is to focus on your experience, skills and abilities that you intend to carry forward -- not everything you have done.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Furthermore, to make a distinction between what you responsibilities and duties are and what you have accomplished is key. Particularly as you move into supervisory and <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/management/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">management</a> roles.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Lastly, make sure your job titles are accurate with what you want to do. Many companies have grades and titles internally that work for their organization structure but don't make sense in the bigger world of job seeking." <i>- Carolyn Thompson, author of "Ten Easy Steps to a Perfect Résumé"</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"The solution to the problem is to find the common denominator. It can be <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/communications/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">communications</a>. It might be <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/customer+service/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">customer service</a>. The recruiter or <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/counselor/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">counselor</a> has to help the candidate find the link. The link always exists. You're a writer. I guarantee that you have never had a job outside of your basic skill set. You have not worked as a <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/engineer/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">mechanic</a>. You have not been an <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/engineer/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">engineer</a>. But you may have worked in <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/IT/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">IT</a>. But if you did, at one stage you probably were responsible for writing a guide. That would be the link.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Let me use myself as an example. I'm a recruiter. I used to work at <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/nonprofit/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">non-profits</a>. Then I got a job as a recruiter with a recruiting firm that specializes in the non-profit sector. There's the link. Even though recruiting has nothing to do with fundraising, I'm still a non-profit professional. There is always a link." --<i> Bruce A. Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing, New York.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"If a person has moved jobs fairly frequently, there must be a reason for the job changes. The two things an employer really wants to know are: Will you leave them quickly and therefore might not be a good choice? And was there a good, compelling reason to leave the previous job? The best way you can signal you are an asset is to demonstrate on your résumé how each job was actually a progression of growth. Detail not only your skills and accomplishments but the elements that show you learned more or took on greater responsibility with each job." <i>- Dorothy Tannahill Moran, <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/career+coach/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">career coach</a></i></div><i>Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, </i><a href="http://www.theworkbuzz.com/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><i>The Work Buzz</i></a><i>. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.</i> </div>

Turning a lot of experience into an effective résumé

How to use a varied work history to your advantageAnthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder WriterPerhaps, generations ago, students graduated from college and found jobs related to their majors. They stayed at these jobs for several years before moving on t…

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