How NOT to Handle Being Fired

How NOT to Handle Being Fired Getting fired is never going to be a pleasant experience, but by handling it badly youre only going to do more damage and its really not worth getting yourself worked up over. Its natural that you will feel disappointed or angry, however by taking a positive outlook, itll be much easier for you to move onto something new. The way you react to being let off and exit a company can have an effect on the future of your career, so its important that you do it as gracefully as possible. After all, its likely that you want to continue working in the industry and are going to cross paths with your ex employer or colleagues, so you dont want to do anything you might regret. Although its easier said than done, here are a few things that you really should avoid doing after being fired. 1) Dont make a scene Whether you expected it or not, its likely that youd be upset at the news that you have lost your job, but try not to react badly or do anything irrational. Sometimes its hard to act rationally when emotions are running high, but you dont want to act impulsively and end up burning bridges. 2) Dont vent on social media The worst thing you can do is have an outburst on social media. Its a small world and you never know who could read it and who knows who. Youre likely to say something in the heat of the moment that you may regret later and by that point youve broadcast it to hundreds of people! 3) Dont feel  disheartened Feeling sorry for yourself will get you nowhere. Yes youve just been let go from your current job, but that doesnt mean you wont find another one, maybe even a better one! If things dont happen as quickly as hoped, dont feel disheartened. By thinking positively, you will come across as a more positive and forward thinking individual who employers are more likely to want to hire. 4) Dont spend a week in your underpants When unemployed, you may feel like you  dont really have anything important  to get out of bed for each day, so its easy to let your routine slip. Spending your days lounging around in your PJs may be the comfiest option, but chances are your whole mindset will relax and youll lose productivity. By setting your alarm for a decent time and getting up and dressed each day you will automatically be in a better frame of mine to be proactive in your job search. 5) Dont lie about it When looking for a new job, its likely that prospective employers will want to know why you left your last job. In this situation you really shouldnt lie about it, as they may wish to conduct a background check. Unless you were fired for something horrendous, the best thing to do usually is to be honest  about it. 6) Don’t compare yourself to other people A lot of us are guilty of comparing ourselves to others, especially with social media becoming so integrated into daily life. By doing this youre only going to make yourself feel worse and youre not going to achieve anything from it. Success comes to those who work for it, so get out there and do just that! Main Image Credit: Shutterstock

Personal Branding Interview Curtis Silver - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Curtis Silver - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Curtis Silver, who is a full time geek, writer father who moonlights from 9-5 as a financial analyst.   He is also a blogger for Wired.   In this interview, we discuss how technology has blended personal and professional lives, Curtiss career, how journalists use social networks to think of stories, and his vision for the future of media. Do you believe in blending and promoting both your personal and professional life online? Yes and no. When I first got into social media and promoting myself online I was very wary of how much personal data to reveal to the world. Then I discovered Linkedin and put my whole resume online. That was a huge step in realizing that personal and professional will always be a blurry line, to a point. You still wont catch my putting pictures of my family online, and my own avatar is a cartoon version of myself. I only accept friend requests on Facebook from actual friends or people I know. However, its important to understand that in the age we live in we must set aside certain fears about the online world in order to progress. Yes, its quite scary out there and there is a lot of fear and trepidation when it comes to self-promotion, but everything we do in life comes with certain risks. I recently wrote about (see, self promotion) the fears we face in social media, pointing out that most of the fear is fear of the unknown. An online presence is integral to success in business, especially if your business is online. Self promotion will always carry a certain amount of your personal life over to your professional life. It cant be helped. How did you get started in your writing career and then end up at Wired? What have you learned? Well, my writing career has been shaky. Ive been writing my whole life, and have done freelance for several failed magazines and online blogs. Ive carried my own blog (written under a pseudonym) for many years though have recently slacked on it since writing at Wired. My blog was mostly humor and Wired offered me more than just mindless ranting to a small audience. Im a financial analyst by trade, so selling myself as a creative person has always been difficult, even though thats what I love to do and who I am. So basically, my writing career is just now moving forward in a positive direction. I read Wired on a regular basis, and especially the GeekDad blog. Back in March they had an open call for writers who fit the requirements of being a geek and a dad (or mom.) I answered and was one of many chosen to fill the ranks. Quickly I moved from additional contributor to core contributor and now call GeekDad my blogging home. I have learned that self promotion and not being afraid to take leaps and make connections is key. I dont think that I would have jumped and been able to capture this opportunity several years ago based on my inherent fears of rejection and getting past my stereotyped personality of an analyst. But here was a place that didnt ask for my professional resume, just my personal one. Since starting at GeekDad, I have been interviewed on Canadian Radio (for my Tetris birthday post) and have been able to interact and write with some great, creative and like-minded writers. Do you use Twitter and other social networks to get new story ideas and/or sources? Why? Absolutely. To me, Twitter exists as more than just a what I ate for breakfast network, though that part of it can be amusing. Its a place to share ideas, self promote and move articles and information around the word quicker than ever before. Would I be talking to you now if not for Twitter? No, not at all. Between being able to bounce ideas off strangers on Twitter, or share ideas and story themes with my friends on Facebook, Ive gotten more help on writing and creating new stories than before when I just had a core group of people I would email. Not to mention the depth of the internet and whats out there really shines through when you have followers, or are following people in countries all over the world. It sure beats spending all day surfing the net looking for the next idea. The ideas, the stories flow across social networks like a raging torrent of information, all you have to do is sit with your net and collect them. Its great. How do you feel youre branded online? Are you a geek-dad? I feel Im doing okay. I have a profile at Linkedin, with a couple thousand connections. Im on Twitter of course, and Facebook. People who know me, know my sense of humor and sarcasm. Those who dont, will. Someday Id like to be a source for something, but I still have trouble getting a competent amount of Diggs on some of my posts. Branding takes work and takes time, the latter being something I dont have much of. I work full-time (as mentioned, I am an analyst pays the bills) so all of my writing and online presence has to be jammed in somewhere. In fact, Im answering these questions during my lunch break. I dont think Im where I want to be online just yet, its going to take some more work and more of that ever precious time. I am a geek dad. Seriously. I fit the stereotype for that as far as my likes/dislikes. Im a huge comic book nerd, I listen to music that is classified as nerdcore and still play with LEGO. Im also a dad, with three kids in the house. However, they havent embraced the geekiness as much as I would like, but its not something that can be forced. The most hope I have is for the youngest, my 4 year old daughter. The force is strong with that one. I do however fight against the physical stereotype of a geek. I dont sit around and play World of Warcraft all night. I go to the gym, I play with the kids, I write. I do drink copious amounts of Mountain Dew though. Diet only. What is your vision or thoughts on the future of media? Will it be online only? Its certainly moving in that direction. The down side is, did you see the reaction when Twitter went down for half a day? Imagine everything you rely on for news, information and personal interactions is online and bam! It goes down. What will you do? So there is this doomsday cloud that hangs over the future of media. Everything will be online eventually, but I hope not only. We still need newspapers in our hands from time to time to remind us that we are human, not an extension of a machine. I think the internet and social media devices are great tools for the advancement of society, but we still will need that personal interaction. What if every single speech you gave was over a Webinar and not in person? Wouldnt it feel different not to see the reaction of the crowd, to get that personal feedback, to hear their applause? Its like that. That being said, the online world opens up many different opportunities for media and branding. This whole Social Media thing is a prime example and probably the apex of that school of thought. The transfer of information and news has become even more instant and far reaching than any 24 hour news channel could ever be. Its a brand new world and I think Ken Kesey said it best, You’re either on the bus…or off the bus. Curtis Silver is a full time geek, writer father who moonlights from 9-5 as a financial analyst. He is attempting to crack into social media and the opportunities available on the internet via shameless self promotion and sharp writing. Freelancing as a citizen journalist graphic designer, Curtis dreams of a day when a commute consists of walking to another room. Currently residing a mere six miles from the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota, Florida he is married with three kids, an Xbox 360, Wii and a dog. Sorry ladies. Curtis currently can be found on the internet writing at GeekDad, self promoting on Linkedin and babbling constantly on Twitter @cebsilver. He has a Google Voice number but finds the suffix as spelled out in words quite silly, so he doesnt include it in contact information. Which kind of defeats the purpose.

It only takes 15 minutes to do 99% of the things you want to accomplish

It only takes 15 minutes to do 99% of the things you want to accomplish To figure out whether or not you really want to meet a goal youre not meeting, clear fifteen minutes a day in your calendar. Tell yourself one very small thing you can do in that fifteen minutes to move toward meeting that goal. And see if you do it. Why this tactics works: 1. You cant meet big goals without breaking them down. A to-do list works best if its full of specific, manageable things you can do to move one, small step toward the very big goal. After breaking down the goal into items on a to-do list, you notice that worthy goals require sustained focus over a very long time. 2. Self-discipline is what creates change. And self-discipline snowballs.  For example, people who write lists end up using lists, and people who use lists get more done. But also, if you balance a book on your head for ten minutes a day, you are more likely to do pushups for ten minutes a day. Because self-discipline begets self-discipline even if its something silly. 3. People dont want to accomplish the goals they set and dont meet.  I set aside fifteen minutes every day for a week and did nothing. Each day I told myself to do something different with the fifteen minutes. And each day I did not do the something different. So I decided Im revealing to myself my true goal: to be depressed. So I laid on the sofa with the dog for 15 minutes a day. And remember the part I told you about snowballing? Well that snowballed into two hours. Thats about as long as I can be in the mode of sleeping on the sofa in the middle of the day before the kids start to worry Ive lost my ability to function. I wonder if other peoples kids would start to wonder much earlier. I wonder if maybe its a litmus test of ones parenting to see how long you can sleep on the sofa in the middle of the day before the kids think something is wrong. Forget it. Theres no measure to tell if youre a good parent. Which is why Im obsessed with meeting goals. I want to accomplish something. I meet goals with my kids but its not like then Im a good parent. Because meeting goals is not even what parenting is about loving kids is what parenting is about. Not that you dont know that. But I need to keep writing it to remind myself. Wait. An aside: if my kids look back on these posts and think I was a bad parent, they should know that I do understand that the purpose of parenting is love. To the future daughter-in-law, twenty years in the future, who is telling my son that his mother fucked him up and she is not coming to Passover anymore because of family dysfunction: this is a record to show I understood what my job was and I did it. And also, wait until you have kids and see how hard it is to express love in a way that is not overbearing. One of the ways I learned how to see the goal Im not meeting is by coaching so many people who want help with the goal they are not meeting. Which is, like, almost everyone. Probably the most common goal not being met is career advancement.   Many people think their careers should be advancing no matter what. But in most cases the person doesnt really care if their career advances, they just think they  should care. The second most common goal not being met is having a meaningful career. Many people think their career should have meaning. But in most cases the person doesnt really believe that careers give meaning to life, they think jobs support what is meaningful in life. The other way I learn how to see the goal Im not meeting is to look at people who are not meeting the goal I want them to meet. Tonight that is Melissa. It used to be that she took all the pictures for the blog. Then she moved and I emailed her pictures I take, and she edited them. Or deleted them if she didnt like them. She was incredibly slow, but she was the best at it. We did that for a long time. Then I moved to Swarthmore and she stopped doing it. She told me to use all the pictures she edited that I didnt use. But I do not view this as a tongue-to-tail thing where we are eating the whole cow before we butcher a new one. I view this as a one-pancake-left thing where it doesnt feel good to eat when you know youre taking the only one thats left. People like a choice of pancakes. Thats why restaurants serve a stack. But the real problem is I dont want to look at all the pictures of our life at the farm. I get sad every time, and then I never write. So I dont care that there are a lot of photos I didt use. At first I was pissed that Melissa isnt hearing how upset Ive been.  But the goals I set for Melissa should not be goals if shes not meeting them. Just like the goals I set for myself should not be goals if Im not meeting them. So I am posting all the pictures of our move from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania. I had no idea we would never go back to the farm. I feel ill and anxious every time I look at these pictures. I want the whole day out of the photo queue. So Im putting it on the blog. Im taking steps to meet my goal.  This is the way I can move forward. Melissa will tell you these pictures are evidence that she is right and there are plenty of pictures for me to choose from.  But I see it as evidence that OHare is a patchwork of memorable ceilings that all make me sad. And what is this picture? Even if you cant identify this as the floor in Terminal C, you can identify this as the face of a dog that portends ominous doom. If only I had paid more attention to the dog. But really what would I have done differently? Probably nothing. Im not the type to second-guess my decisions. One of the only times that still happens is when I flip through photos to add to my post. Now there are no more photos that makes me sad waiting in the queue. I used them all right here. Its my small specific step to move forward. And Im taking action, because not being sad about what we lost when we moved is a goal thats important to me. All the other goals; I guess I dont want them as much I want this.

Capitalizing on The War for Talent - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Capitalizing on The War for Talent - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career There is a hot conversation going on in a lot of businesses. Most every business is facing  a challenge related to hiring, retaining and training employees. And, if they don’t feel the pain now they will  in a few years. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be shortfall of 18 million people to fill roles in the US. Millennials and Gen Z’s entering the workforce  have an opportunity ahead of them. In one sense they have a growing field of opportunity. In another they have the chance to define what the workforce of the future looks like  â€" both as an employee, as an employer and as an entrepreneur to create the systems to manage The War for Talent. Employee Retention Company Culture There is a talent gap related to every generation. This talent gap is related to retaining employees as well as training them and keeping them motivated. This has nothing to do with the perception that Millennials have been characterized as slackers by some media. The reality is that a lot of companies have not taken a close look at their culture and how it aligns to the War for Talent. People are loyal to culture, not to strategy. It’s not easy or cheap to create a strategy or a culture. But, strategy changes while culture endures. Having a culture that embraces and engages  employees will win in the long run. Culture eats strategy for Breakfast ~ Peter Drucker 10,000 Boomers Every  Day One of the challenges facing organizations today in The War for Talent is the  dwindling work force. Or, so it may seem on the surface.  There are 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring every day … this will continue for the next 20 years. However, in the past  few months the Millennials have reached a new milestone. Just recently the Millennial Generation became the largest category of humans on the planet. There are 80 million in the US and 2 billion worldwide. This is a very good thing for Millennials. Not only are they the dominant work force category, but they also have a huge and wide open field to innovate. I mean innovate in a few senses of the word. Millennials (and Gen Z’ers) will be able to innovate what their roles look like. Innovation will take on a few personas … and some will occur at the same time for the same person: Employee We already know that it’s become common to jump from role to role and company to company. The employee will decide when, where and how they want to work. Sure, employers will have a say (and a need) to cover specific days and hours. But, more and more the “employee” will vote with their feet. This is one of the challenges in  The War for Talent. Employer They will also become the employer of many of these retiring, or soon to be retiring, Baby Boomers as well as their Millennial and Gen Z brethren. Keeping them challenged … as well as trained and motivated … will always be top of mind. Entrepreneur  â€" This is one I like the most. Innovations in “Human Capital Management” are ready to take off. Several of the large consulting firms and platform providers have already started practices and have built solutions to get the ball rolling. Millennials have a unique opportunity to play a significant role here. Both as a leader of these traditional firms, but most interestingly as a creator of a new kind of thinking for HCM. Not a Zero Sum Game In the  War for Talent it’s setting up an opportunity that is far from a Zero Sum Game. Quite the contrary … the Millennials and Gen Z generations are going to be able to pick and choose. Millennials are going to have to select from an ever-widening set of “job” options. Millennials are going to be able to define the work force in their own vision. And, in the process create solutions to capture the data, processes and concepts from previous generations. This is what I meant by innovation and the ability to occupy several personas at once. Technology is making it easier than ever to do a lot of things. Some of the things that have traditionally required “the human touch” are fading away into oblivion. However, some skills, some traits, some specialized knowledge still resides within the human brain and require to human touch. This is an area where Millennials are going to be able to create solutions that capture, catalog and archive what Baby Boomers have spent years, decades actually, to create. The Future is Bright It’s NOT all gloom and doom for them in the workforce. The wise companies are figuring out ways to capture the information the Boomers have been carrying around in their heads and on their clipboards. The wise companies are working to insure Millennials and Gen Z workers can enter the workforce and utilize the information their predecessors used to get their jobs done. The wise companies are putting Millennials in charge. Corollary: The Wise Millennials are creating the next generation of Wise Companies. These are the challenges and the opportunities in  The War for Talent. Are you ready for battle?

How to Recognize Reward Top Performers in the Workplace CareerMetis.com

How to Recognize Reward Top Performers in the Workplace Remember the last time you were recognized for a job well done? It felt good, didn’t it? It motivatedyou to keep working hard because you knew you were appreciated, and your efforts were seen by others.It is important to recognize any employee when they do a good job, which can be as simple as telling them ‘good job’ or recognizing them at a meeting; especially your top performers.evalThese are the employees who are on the management track and other leadership positions.This article discusses what makes up a top performer and how they can come in many different forms.What is a Top Performer?No matter the type of personality, a top performer can be picked out from a mile away.Even if a top team player is introverted or more extroverted, they all have the confidence that inspires others to do their very best every day. All great leaders can offer up consistent results and hit their mark with poise. Great employees are always looking for ways to learn more. They advance themselves in the industry for the betterment of the company. Here’s how you can spot a potential top-performer:Here are five things to look for when searching for a top performer:Intellectual Firepower â€" From intelligence comes thoughtful analysis, asking the right questions, good judgment, and better decisions. They should demonstrate that they are able to take on a leadership role. This could be someone who rose quickly in another organization and was rewarded with an important leadership job.Values â€" All the intelligence in the world isn’t going to help a person who lacks basic integrity and compassion for other human beings. Honesty, decency, respect, kindness, generosity, and consideration are important values a great employee should possess. Have an interviewee speak more to their team building experience in order to get a better feel of the integrity of their character.Passion â€" The level of enthusiasm and interest in work and life that makes someone stand out above the rest . You either have it or you don’tWork Ethic â€" You want someone who is passionate about the work they do, and they feel good when they’re highly productive. During the interview process, try to find out if they’ve worked weekends, what they’ve sacrificed at times to work instead of play. You often must make sacrifices for a greater good.Experience â€" This is something that you can provide them. If the other four factors are there, experience isn’t as important. Nonetheless, it’s always beneficial to have experience in the field.Recognize Top Performers in a Unique WayIt is great to have an employee of the month to help highlight a person’s monthly success, but it becomes mundane over time and can turn into a popularity contest. But to properly recognize a top performer, it should come as more of a surprise. Having random announcements helps keep everyone on their toes and keeps everyone inspired.Give your top performers varied and interesting assignments. Creative pe ople get bored easily, so giving them varied tasks and letting them know that these tasks are important will help them to feel valued and more engaged in the work that they do. Need some new ideas on how to cut costs in your shipping operation while making it greener? Offer your high performers the assignment.Let them be recognized and appreciated for the work that they do. The assignment to make shipping greener? Let them present their proposed changes to the board. Allow them to connect with other high performers and managers in the company to allow them to grow into new and higher positions in the company.Provide your top-performer with a mentor to help them grow. Make sure that you assign them someone who can and wants to talk to a younger employee.Give them responsibilities, clear paths for growth and advancement. If they fail, find out what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future. If things go well, reward them.Let them know that they have a career path with the company. Take the time to work out a career path with them. With clear milestones, training and assessments along the way.Give them various experiences so that they can grow into effective managers.Implement Different Ways to Say CongratulationsMix it up! Employees are smart and catch on quickly with how and when announcements occur.Management should incorporate an element of surprise that is unique to the standout employee.evalHave employees fill out an HR survey upon being hired. This is a quick and concise way to learn each employees’ favorite restaurant, favorite dessert, etc.1) Reward Those Who Leave Their Comfort ZoneevalSource â€" CanvasPeople.comCongratulate a standup employee for going beyond their expertise. Something as simple as attending multiple marketing events can set an employee apart from the rest.2) Reward employees who take the initiative to learn a new skilland come back to the rest of the team and teach it. It shows that they are working to better themselves and givin g back to the company to help others learn a new and important skill. Work with an employee to identify new skills or technology that can help the company. You can even fund any training that they need to further encourage them to make strides in bettering themselves.3) Ask Employee PreferencesevalIf you have a set of top employees that provide consistent and solid results, ask them how they’d like to be rewarded. It could call for a team building event or extra work from home days.Even if you are not reaching towards a goal, if your employees say that the team needs an energy or moral boost, it might be time for a celebration. Even if to just say that you appreciate them.Even a small celebrationwith food can be a special pat on the back. Tell someone they have done a good job and then tell them to redouble their efforts can come across as self-servicing and cynical.By opening more communication channelswith your employees, this will allow for there to be more transparency when gi ving honest feedback. You want to keep your employees happy, so give them a choice with how they might be rewarded.It creates healthy competition so other employees can challenge themselves.Celebrate milestones â€" set goals on the path towards a larger goal and celebrate when the goals are met. Keep things in perspective, have small celebrations on the way to a goal and a larger celebration when the project is finished.Be authentic, if you don’t feel like celebrating other people can tell.Follow through on promises. Have a celebration if you say that you will have a celebration.Bring food, possibly drinks to the event. Any celebrations are more fun with food.ConclusionFor business leaders, it is important to cultivate an environment that fosters, mentors and encourages new leaders to try new things and grow into their positions. They will always remember your company as a place that helped them to grow into a high-level position.When they talk about your company as a place that e ncourages growth and development, others will want to work there too!

Career Advice from my Dad

Career Advice from my Dad While my dad was never a career strategist and never even had to face a career transition (he was with one company for 30 years), he did give me some sage advice about my career along the way. Here are a few of my favorite nuggets:  A lot of bosses are idiots. Everyone Ive ever met has an interesting story about a bad boss. The trick is to figure out either how to manage that relationship or get out of it. The  DISC  assessment tool is very useful for figuring out how you communicate with people and how those around you respond to your method of communication. It can help you discover how to tweak your communication style to improve your relationship with a difficult boss.You will never be able to please everyone. It seems like our entire lives are spent trying to please someonea teacher, a boss, a family member. Some people only hear from their bosses when something goes wrong. Be sure to keep track of your stories of success throughout the year so your discussion at performance rev iew time focuses on your positive contributions rather than just the things that need to be improved.No job is worth risking your health for. I meet many people who have sacrificed their health for their jobs. Stress can contribute to numerous health issues including obesity, heart disease, and depression. Examine your career choices and regularly assess how well they are aligned with your overall life goals.Getting fired is not the worst thing that can happen in life. Being fired can be an enormous blow to ones ego, but many people report that it was the best thing that ever happened to them because it allowed them to gain perspective on a bad situation, discover their strengths, and move forward to a more fulfilling career.Put as much money in your 401k as you can. These plans are an easy, relatively painless way to save money. Theres really no reason for anyone, even someone who is just starting out in their career, to pass up this opportunity.Dont expect others to manage your ca reer. My dad taught me a long time ago that no one cares about my career as much as I do. Its certainly beneficial to have a mentor along the way, but ultimately you have to own your career. Take responsibility for that ownership by keeping your  resume  up to date, networking regularly, maintaining relationships with recruiters, and monitoring your online identity.Happy Fathers Day!

Format For Writing a Personal Resume

Format For Writing a Personal ResumeHow do you format for writing a personal resume? There are a number of methods, all of which can present the candidate with an effective resume, but how do you know which one to use? Many job searchers struggle to figure out the best way to write a personal resume. The process is not that difficult and anyone can make it more appealing.Do you look at your own resume? If so, did you make the mistakes? You can't really think about your resume without thinking about yourself. When you read through it, take the time to check and re-check every aspect of it. How does it look?Were there any key points that stand out as being important? This will be something you have to be honest about. If you have omitted one of these points, then you need to include it. It is possible to cram in too much information into your resume, but if it doesn't tell the recruiter anything they need to know, it could be considered a waste of time.For example, some job seekers hav e very well thought out personal resumes. However, they also have far too many professional experience for what they list on their resume. The recruiter will be left thinking that you had to have professional experience, but it was just not on the resume. A personal resume should contain the skill-set a person needs, not the job experience that the person has. Carefully consider this point and also look over the cover letter sample.What format do you normally work with when preparing a resume? The most common formats are lined paper, spiral, or A4. You might find yourself relying on one format or the other. Once you find a format that works for you, stick with it.One of the first formats you should use is lined paper. This means you write on one side of the paper and then paste the other side over it. The reason that it is a good idea to use lined paper is because it allows the resume to lay flat and thus presents a better presentation. Having no space on the resume can make it look cluttered resumes usually do not get a look in the eyes of the employer. Also, lined paper is more visually appealing.Another resume format is a spiral. Spiral resume templates are a popular choice because they provide a more streamlined look. However, spiral templates are not without their own drawbacks.One additional format for writing a personal resume is A4. With this format, each section is sewn into a separate piece of paper, so there is no border. You simply write the information into the spiral and then staple the pages together to form a single resume. These are just a few examples of various formats, but you will find more if you try to look.