Why brand if you don't need a new job?

The last time I presented The Modern Resume, I was a bit rushed, and I had the comment from someone afterwards that all the advice I had given could be used in a performance review. That's totally true, and I had a small bullet to that effect, but due to the time constraints, I didn't emphasize it.

If you can work for the same company for 20, 30, 40 years, good for you. Not everyone can, and perhaps not even the majority of people can. However even if you do, you will have reviews periodically where someone will look to rate your performance, perhaps help you decide where to grow your career within the company, and likely decide on how much of a raise you get.

Documenting the work you do, volunteering within the company, blogging about the things you've learned, noting your accomplishments that have benefited the company, will help you negotiate and debate the validity of a raise. It's always a debate, and the more evidence you can provide that justifies your increasing value, the more likely you can convince someone you deserve a raise. This applies as well to a promotion or a change of job, which may be something you want, even within the same company.

However as you blog, document, etc., you want to be sure that you are doing this in a way that shows your value to the company, or maybe the value you can bring by moving into a new position.

The Modern Resume Live in 2011

I'll be presenting The Modern Resume in quite a few places this spring. Here are some events and dates if you are interested:

• Feb 5 - Cleveland, OH - SQL Saturday #60
• Feb 12 - Colorado Springs, CO - SQL Saturday #66
• Mar 6 - Denver, CO - Rocky Mountain Tech Trifecta v3.0
• Mar 26 - Chicago, IL - SQL Saturday #67 
• Apr 2 - Dallas, TX - SQL Saturday #63

If you want to see it, let me know about your area. If you make any of these events, please come say hi.