Surprising Lessons From a Day in the Life of Sarah Palin

    September 27, 2008 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Sarah Palin offered an important lesson this week in resume writing and career counseling (but not in foreign policy) that everyone can learn from, says the President of a professional resume writing and career counseling firm.

"Resume writers take note: Sarah Palin's handlers had her shake hands with foreign leaders. It was a clear and important attempt to provide her with resume help, and make her appear qualified to handle foreign policy issues," said Paul Freiberger, President of Shimmering Resumes. "This was a bold effort to plug a conspicuous hole in her resume.

Freiberger said that it's admirable for Palin to try to fix her resume. "She has not traveled abroad. They have to do something," he said.

"Let's acknowledge that all of us have imperfect resumes. The question for career counselors and resume writers is: What do you do about these imperfections? In this case: What is the Republican ticket doing about them?

Freiberger explained that there are several methods of addressing problem resumes of ill-qualified job candidates such as Palin. "If you are shooting for a job that you probably don't qualify for, you need to employ a sophisticated resume writing strategy," said Freiberger, adding that there are three approaches to consider:

1) Distraction: Try to prevent anyone from noticing your limitations by highlighting your strengths. For example, the great power hitters in baseball keep us focused on their power not on their strikeouts.

2) Complete transparency: Admit your weaknesses and seek to address them. For example, if you are a CEO but lack the ability to give a good speech, then take a seminar that teaches public speaking. People will admire you for the effort.

3) Camouflage: Try to pretend that you don't have these weaknesses.

The McCain campaign chose the third approach, said Freiberger. They sent Palin to meet with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Perhaps someone high up in the campaign thought that five minutes discussing family matters with a couple of heads of state would convince voters that she could step in and deal with the War on Terror.
Freiberger blames Palin's handlers for making her look foolish. "I would never advise an executive client to take this approach with a resume or job search," he said.

"Palin's effort was not effective. But for those of us in the resume business it serves to illustrate the point about holes in your resume. It's better to be open about them, or, address them concretely. If you do not, you'll end up looking like Governor Palin: an ill-qualified candidate in search of higher position."

About Shimmering Resumes

Shimmering Resumes (http://www.ShimmeringResumes.com) is a nationwide resume writing service, career counseling, and outplacement business, and a member of Career Masters Institute.
Paul Freiberger is available to comment on this press release and other topics.

Contact:
Paul Freiberger
President, Shimmering Resumes
(650) 464-0085
[email protected]

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