138 BODY LANGUAGE SECRETSis, you will be independent. You will have choices. You
will never be a wage slave.
When you have money, you're the person who gets
to decide how you spend the rest of your life. Increas-
ing your options is what this book is fundamentally
about because you're the person who must decide
which of life's infinite paths to take.
Creative Writing, Resumes. At the first corpora-
tion I joined after getting out of the Army, my boss
called me into his office a few months after I started.
He asked me to close the door. This guy was about 35,
nicely dressed, relaxed, confident, polite and on his
way up. In an idle moment he had compared my re-
sume with my application. He began gently by saying
that Personnel always verified the information on ap-
plications, especially recent salaries and education. I
nodded, "Uh, huh." Then he stated bluntly, "Every-
thing's off the record."
He said I had been hired two levels below where I
should have been based on my experience and educa-
tion. It would take him a year to promote me to that
level because of Personnel policy and rules. Then, as if
trying not to hurt my feelings, he explained:
"Everybody assumes resumes are inflated. So eve-
ryone who reads your resume automatically discounts
it 10 to 40 percent. If you tell the truth you are offered
10 to 40 percent less than your actual experience
merits. That's what happened to you."
Inwardly I was outraged, indignant and offended. It
didn't seem fair. It didn't make sense. To this day it
seems foolish but that's how The System works. Sad
but true.
Your First Creative Resume. Get thyself to the
library. Read as many different books on writing re-
sumes as you can stand. Ten is minimum. Pick three
different formats. Write your resume three different
ways. Contact friends outside the company. Send all
three versions. Ask them to comment, edit and to
Office Politics: The Woman's Guide 139please send a copy of their resume when returning
yours. Incorporate ideas you like.
No matter where you worked, the duties and re-
sponsibilities you describe must mention skills that
are transferable to a corporate paper pushing envi-
ronment.
Buzzwords for transferable skills include: schedule,
train, plan, hire, monitor costs, develop budgets, fore-
cast, purchase, prepare reports. Other facts newcom-
ers must include (a) held a job (b) held a second more
important job (c) held a third even more important job
(d) worked with other employees and the public (e) did
something other than lift things or serve people.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Don's first job, age 12, was the Saturday telephone
operator in Shippenville, Pennsylvania, population- He earned ten cents an hour. At 16, he worked as
an embalmer's assistant for the summer. The next
year, he was an oiler on strip mining equipment, a
muddy, cold, dreary, dangerous task.
Those two jobs convinced him to get an education.
He attended Penn State, Clarion State, USC and CSU
Fullerton to earn a BA and CSU Northridge for his
MA. He began writing his own books in 1978.
Since 1963, Don has worked for New Moon Indus-
tries, US Army, Hughes, Ford, Air Research, Aerojet
General, Bechtel, SC Edison, Metropolitan Water, Lo-
ral, BFM Energy, Nathaniel Branden's Biocentric In-
stitute, Jet Propulsion Lab, McDonnell Douglas,
Northrop, Interstate Electronics, Allied Signal,
Everett Charles Test Equipment, The Republican Na-
tional Committee and many political campaigns.
The next chapter offers Updated Helpful Hints
(on dating and relating) for guys who have read my
other books. Some of the advice offends women, but
once again, no offense intended.