As a brand new columnist for haleisner.com, this series will address
anything and everything that is related to job-hunting in the broadcast
industry. I'm a former Television News Journalist, with experience as an
Assignment Editor, Feed Coordinator for ABC NewsOne, and Regional Manager
for CONUS Communications. I left the business in 2000 to transition into a
career as a Certified Resume Writer, which has taken my journalism skills to
a new level. I still interview people, and write about their lives, only
now it's in a different format. In other words, spelling and punctuation
count! I've earned my CRW credential from the Professional Resume Writing
and Research Association, and I'm a current member of Career Masters
Institute.

Future articles will be dedicated to resumes, cover letters, job interviews,
and your questions about the whole process. If you have a particular
situation you'd like me to address, please don't hesitate to email me at
firstrateresumes@yahoo.com. All correspondence will remain confidential. I
also welcome input from News Executives who receive resumes and tape
packages for job openings. What makes one resume stand out over another?
Do you have any pet peeves you'd like me to mention?

And now for the first column.. KEEP AN ATTA BOY FILE

Tax time is a perfect reminder to start an atta boy file. We all know taxes
are a lot easier to process, if we've established a decent filing system for
all those deductions. But when it comes to gathering up all the info for
writing a resume, we seem to forget about what we learned from the annual
tax headache. Start the file now, and it will pay off when you need it most:
when you're searching for your next job or promotion.

The atta boy file is all about you and your accomplishments. This is where
you stash your old resumes along with all of your best stuff. This includes
transcripts of award winning stories, letters of recommendation, employee
evaluations, certificates of achievement, and a list of seminars and
recently attended workshops. When you're ready to update your resume,
whether you hire a professional, or do it yourself, having all this
information handy will make the process much easier.

Here are some other things to consider for your file. Have your ratings
increased? Have you won any awards? Have you been promoted to a better
time slot, or has the network picked up any of your stories? Have you
interviewed any hard to reach politician or celebrity? Broke a major news
story? These are great accomplishments that belong in your resume or
cover letter. How about all those newsroom computer programs you know?
While your tape shows off your work, your resume and cover letter tell the
results of your work, and show off your fine writing skills. It's never too
late to start your file. Make it a point to do it soon!

Next week's column: Getting past the 15 second scan