Do you believe that mistakes are bad or a learning experience?

I believe that a mistake can show me where I need to improve in some way.

I have made MANY mistakes over the years while raising my 4 children, while working, in my relationships.  Each time I learned something.  Sometimes I learned it on my own and other times I had help.

As a career counsellor I see my clients making mistakes in their resumes or their job search and I am here to help them overcome some of those mistakes.

Some of the major mistakes I see are typos in resumes, or not highlighting the skills that match the job.

I remember one time someone coming in to the office to complain that he had not had an interview at a new pizza place.  He said he had experience.  I asked to see his resume and there was NOTHING on it to indicate that he had any skills in the kitchen.  He told me that he prepared meals at home.  He seemed surprised that the employer couldn't figure that out from his resume.

Other mistakes are not preparing for an interview.  Often people think they can just wing it, they don’t realize it is like a skater preparing for the Olympics – it takes practice to make it.  You would never expect to be able to just step on the ice and begin to skate like an Olympic skater.  You would expect to stumble and not be good at skating for some time.

I always suggest that clients save the job ad and the resume prepared for it in a file folder so that they can review what they are looking for before they get called in for the interview.  I also suggest using Zoom to practice an interview, either with a friend or on their own.

When I work with my clients I record them using Zoom and send them a copy of their interview.  I ask them to watch it 3 ways – once as it is, once with no sound and just watch the body language and once with no video and just the sound.   This way they are able to see and hear themselves as the employer would.

Another mistake I have seen is that people are not reading the job ad carefully and then they are missing out on some of the key job requirements.  I have had people send me a job ad and say, “I want to apply for this.”   When I read through the requirements and look at their resume, I tell them what I am seeing and ask for more clarification on their skills.  Often they will admit that they didn’t really read it through or truly understand what was required.

Fran Watson