I placed the oddest order at work the other day. I am used to ordering paper and cleaners and that type of thing, but this was an absolute new experience for me. My boss came to me and asked me if I could get some price quotes and then place an order for rubber tracks for mini excavators.

I was a little bit dumbfounded at first, as to where to start, but then I thought I could do it and told him so. I decided to start by doing an online search to find out where I could order them from. I found a few companies that sold rubber tracks for track loaders and decided to contact all of them with the serial numbers and ask for price quotes.

I found some to be a lot cheaper than others for the exact same part. I placed an order and it was there the next day. My boss was so happy with me and I have to admit that I was quite pleased with myself as well. I feel like I could do anything that is asked of me now and I love my job.

I am in a group of Hampshire accountants that gets together every year to hash out new tax laws and that sort of thing. There are actually a few of us that get along so well that we get together once a month on social outings. On those particular outings, we refuse to talk work at all and make it just a fun night.

One of the things that we are discussing at this year’s meeting is the changes that have been made to tax planning over this past year. I know there have been some major changes and I try to keep up on them myself, but it is really great to have a group to get together and discuss what they have learned. It really helps us to not overlook anything.

I will be glad when all of my clients have completed their tax returns this year. It seems that this year has been a little bit crazier than past years and I must say that I am more than ready for a little bit of a break. It is not just me, either. My friends have been saying the same thing. Maybe we can all take ourselves off to Hawaii for our next get together. Sounds like a good plan to me.

We recently had our staff Christmas party and all of the staff received replica watches as Christmas gifts. We joked with the boss about the reasons for getting them. It was suggested that we were tardy and we needed watches to help us to get to work on time. It was a good laugh for everyone.

Seriously though, the watches were very nice and we always get great Christmas presents where I work. For the top end supervisors, there were even Rolex replicas. This is nice because most if these people will never be able to afford something like this as long as they are working here.

I am not meaning to make my boss sound cheap, as we are paid well, but the reality is that we do not work in the type of industry that allows for us to be able to buy Rolex watches. So, the gifts were wonderful and appreciated, as are our bosses.

I thought I had everything figured out.  I mean, I enrolled at an online business academy to learn everything about business so that I could succeed in the corporate world.  I found the lessons easy, and I passed with good marks.  After finishing school I figured that I would find a perfect job and start my way up the corporate ladder.

But that is not quite how things worked out.

You see, after applying at the many companies in town it ends up that I did find a job, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.  Instead of having a prestigious position, I found myself in the mailroom.

My position, if you will, is to stuff envelopes with store reviews or insurance reviews to send out to our clients.  Not quite the glamorous job I had dreamed of.

I still hold the dream of working in the office in my heart – but slowly, each day, it is slipping away from me.

I have been working at a software firm that specializes in cutting edge technology.  Specifically, we have been creating software to run on mobile devices, as well as software using in the manufacturing of electronics.

Some of our latest developments include SIM Applications such as enhanced phonebooks and SIM lock capabilities.  The goal with these software applications is to enhance the user experience while using a mobile phone.  So far the customer feedback has been positive and we will continue to develop more applications for mobile phones.

In the area of manufacturing software, we have been working on software to help automate the manufacturing of chip card readers.  We have also been working on software to harden the servers that are using in card encoding processes in a factory here in town.

You job feels a lot more secure knowing that there is a lot of projects on the go.  With the variety of work we are doing it is very hard to get bored – there is always something new, and challenging to work on.

Everything has a beginning and everything has an end.  Today I want to talk a bit about the beginning of a job hunt, with the obvious conclusion of getting the job.

So, at the start of the job hunt, you are trying to get a job interview (the middle of the hunt) by having an amazing resume.  Most people do not know how to write a resume properly, and the result of this is very few (if any) job interviews.

Instead of just using some sort of resume builder, where you fill in the blanks to make a resume, a tried and tested system or format should be used to maximize your chance of success.

Some effort should be made to learn how to make a resume instead of just "winging it".  You can find many tutorials online or books at the library that discuss how to write a resume step-by-step.

You will find that if you take the time to learn the proper way to make a resume, you will have more interviews, and a better chance of getting a job.

I can imagine that employers must see thousands of boring resumes every time they need to hire new employees.  I know that I have seen a bunch of bad ones pass through my hands at previous jobs – and it was rare to ever hold onto a good one.  That being said, I like to keep my resume updated – and I try to do it every three months – because you never know when a new job opportunity may present itself.

For the first few years that I was in the workforce, I did this updating myself.  It got to the point where it was a little too tedious for me to do it myself – so I hired a resume writer to do it for me.  This worked okay for awhile, but then she moved away.

Now, I had no one to keep my resume updated.  Luckily for me, my best friend recommended an online resume writer that could do what I needed for a nominal fee. All I do now is send an email every three months to them and they take care of it for me.

Next time you need a resume, try hiring a writer – it has worked well for me.