A graphic designer asked an online forum if she should highlight her skills by creating a unique design for her resume. Every hiring manager who responded answered, “No!”

They wanted a resume formatted for easy reading, scanning and printing. If a professional graphic designer has to reign in her artistic talent, you should, too. That means:

• Using a standard font like Arial, Times New Roman or Helvetica. If you wander away from standard fonts, the computer that receives your resume may not have that font. Suddenly, your resume file is unreadable.
• Being careful with clip art, color or other ornamentation. Black-and-white printers/copiers reduce every color scheme to grey. Some scanners turn ornate designs into a mess. Besides, you never know how a hiring manager will react to a resume bordered by flowers, in green ink, on baby blue paper. It is OK to be creative if you are in a creative field and using a paper resume to hand to a person you know; however, even then, you will need to also provide a standard resume which is able to be scanned.
• Avoiding templates. Some Word templates cause receiving computers and scanners to choke. In addition, if you use a Word template, your resume will look exactly like the hundreds of other applicants using the same template.
• Making the resume easy on the eyes. Somewhere along the line, a human being will read your resume. Save bolding, italics or capitalization for your most important points; use it consistently and sparingly. Chose a font size of at least 11 pt. for Times New Roman or 10 pt. for Arial or Helvetica.

With resumes, content always counts more than style. Make sure your style lets your content stand out.

When most people think of a getting a new job, the first thought is to look outside of their current employer. If you are in a small company with lots of “lifers” where many of the roles are set, an external move may be your only option. But if you work for a mid to large-sized company that actively recruits to fill positions, the first place to start may be your internal job board.

There are several things that could be prompting your desire to change jobs or switch career tracks. Barring you want to make a change because your values clash with that of your employer’s, you may find an opportunity to grow or try something new by moving to a different part of the organization. Even if there seems to be a culture clash or work style clash with your current manager or team, don’t make the mistake of thinking every other team works the same way. A different manager who knows how to groom talent or a different team that has learned how to collaborate and communicate may be just the fit you have been looking for.

When does it make sense to look for an internal opportunity?

Lately, I’ve found myself referring to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs chart a lot when talking to members inside CareerHMO.com. He included it in his 1946 paper called, “A Theory of Human Motivation.” It truly helps members visualize where they are right now in terms of career satisfaction and what it’s going to take to achieve the career success they see all around them, but can’t seem to get for themselves.

Take a look...

Many of the posts on my website focus on developing your own personal brand. They address questions such as:

- What is a personal brand?
- Why do I need to develop my personal brand?
- How do I create a personal brand?

Of course, you don’t really “create” a personal brand. You already have one.

Recently on C-REAL-TV, I mentioned my Interview Prep Tool.

It's a tool I give people to help them get comfortable and confident with interviewing. Here's a true story to give you an idea of how it works...

I actually developed it years ago, when a young college grad, just a year out of school, came to me for help. He was brilliant - seriously. He graduated top of his class from an excellent school, had been highly involved in activities that required heavy brain power, and was now looking for a job in his chosen profession of engineering. So imagine my surprise when I found out he had been temping as a lab technician for the last year. It seems he couldn't get hired. Lots of interviews, over a dozen, but not a single one landed him a job offer. Here's why...

Peter A. Professional’s Career, 2000 - 2012

Here lies Peter Professional's career. A victim of the current recession, Peter's career has been on life support since a layoff from a healthcare consulting firm. Prior to its final demise, Peter took his career through a stint as a personal fitness trainer and ended it working as a car salesman with a luxury-car dealership.

Peter was a graduate of a prestigious university where he earned a degree in integrated science and technology. He immediately began employment as a tumor biology lab technician where he worked for two years before joining the consulting firm. While there, he "utilized empirical data and statistically significant best practices to influence positive change for client's capital efficiencies."

"With the pace of change accelerated for most people, the importance of following a process becomes an important, critical and really effective tool to deal with it. The process is as important as the results it produces."

How does anyone navigate change, be it business or personal? Changing jobs, lifestyle, health, where you live, the unexpected are all a part of our lives today in a more relentless way then ever before. I’m thinking of these real examples of people I know, who have been thrown into the unknown. That unknown is producing some extraordinary outcomes because each one is following a process.

I have to admit, with more than 12 years of hands-on experience interviewing candidates for various positions, I find the biggest mistakes aren’t made during the face-to-face interview; the ones that have really shocked me have been when I’ve interviewed a candidate over the phone.

I find this especially serious for those who are looking to WORK FROM HOME or TELECOMMUTE. So if that’s you, listen up; I’m about to save you from making a mistake that will most definitely cost you the job.

I would assume, if you’re interviewing for a position, it’s because you want the job; I wouldn’t assume you’re just wasting your time and mine by having a phone interview if you weren’t truly interested in the position or didn’t want to learn more about it. Yet I find some candidates just don’t take the phone interview very seriously.

Okay, listen up guys. I don’t say this often but here goes...

I was wrong.

Well, maybe not completely wrong. But a little wrong.

Success Tweet: Persistent people keep going; especially in the face of difficulties. Keep at it and you will accomplish your goals.

John Miller is a friend of mine. He is also the author of a great little book called, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question.

John says all too often we ask the wrong questions when we run into problems. These questions focus on other people. They seek to find who to blame for our troubles and difficulties. John suggests you (and I) should ask the question behind the question – the question that empowers us and helps us take charge of our life and career success.