Switched Keys

My work search continues to take up much of my time and attention as recent posts have suggested. During the next week I may spend some time with Emuser. Emuser is an Access resume database that I developed several years ago. I developed Emuser as an aid to applying for jobs in multiple fields. It's time now to expand what it can do.

Decades ago I established a standard form for my resume that included the standard application information about my work history plus a separate section of Skills or as my resume lists it a Summary of Qualifications. The resultant resume for a job as graphic designer though styled the same will be drastically different from a resume for a job as an administrative assistant or a computer programmer.

I can't say how well this summary works in getting a job or an interview though I have been told it has been helpful by some of the people that have interviewed me. The separate summary takes at least a page and with plenty of white space my resume is usually at least 3 pages taboo for the 1-page resume purists.

The magic of Emuser is that for any job I can select which employment to include (depending on relevancy) education certifications select items to include in my Summary and add other items such as Projects and Activities. I also have a way to record the applications I've made with details about the job and the company. If you know about Boyce-Codd normalization you probably know how it has to be setup.

I'm now adding a Kudos section and a cover letter composer that accompanies application information. My next major step other than some cleanup and forms creation is to make it multi-user so John Jones can record his own information in it. Once that is working I can convert it to an on-line database. Who knows I may be able to create a system that meets the needs of companies and individual seeking employees; one that bridges the gaps of the current systems that I've criticized here. Of course it won't fix HR deficiencies.

If you are a programmer you know how simple that is to do and of course how much time that will take to implement and debug. Programming is easy today but it takes a lot of work to do it right.