Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market
3335 S. Figueroa Street, Suite B
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Branding Your Resume & Cover Letter
At fresh&easy, we review hundreds of resumes and they are all pretty much the same—resumes are lists of what you’ve done and what you’re good at. A really good resume is demonstrates experience, highlights accomplishments, and projects intelligence and confidence. Our recruiters suggest:

• Skip the objective statement which is usually generic and skipped by most recruiters.
• Beef up your experience with specifics—numbers, statistics, percentages, and financials help recruiters understand the impact of your contribution at work. For example, a statement like “decreased costs by 15%” is descriptive and impressive.
• Choose verbs and adjectives that reflect your personal brand and ensure these are prominent in both your resume and cover letter, without simply repeating the exact same phrases.
• While your resume is your list of accomplishments, your cover letter should be your highlight reel. Pick one or two relevant examples from your experience to expand upon, giving the recruiter more information on how your past work prepared you for the job for which you are applying.

Daily Tasks
You’ve worked this hard to identify and build your personal brand, it would be a shame not to maintain it. Here are some tips on the upkeep of your brand in person and online.

1. Network
Look into career fairs and industry events in your area. If you can, RSVP to them, “Like” their pages on Facebook, and whatever else you can do to connect with attendees prior to the event. If you’ve recently been to an event, go over all the business cards and contact information you received and send out a short, personal email to people you met to convey how happy you are to have met them and are looking forward to staying in touch. Hopefully some of these emails will turn into conversations! If you can do so without disrupting anyone, visit the places you’d like to work when time allows.

2. Manage your Online Reputation
Search for yourself once per day if you’re actively job hunting, to see if anyone has said something new about you or to see if there are any results you would rather not have. You can also set up a Google “alert” that will inform you when new information about you is posted online.

3. Social Media
Get active in social networks! Think about how you can use your social networks to build awareness of your personal brand and reinforce your professional image. Connect with people who post content relevant to your field of work or professional interests and engage with them by commenting and sharing their posts. Post information on something you’re doing, especially if it reflects the values you’ve chosen for your personal brand. You should probably plan on posting at least one or two things per day on LinkedIn, Facebook and/or Twitter.

Next week, we’ll wrap our posts on personal branding with some fresh&easy’s do’s and don’ts. In the meantime, if you’ve been building your brand and you’re ready to apply for a job at fresh&easy, visit our Talent Community to see our openings!

Earlier this month, we introduced you to William Daigre, a team leader in our Brentwood store, who will soon be traveling to Haiti to volunteer his time in an effort to touch and improve the lives of the locals. Today, we’d like you to meet another one of our super-star team members, Emma Weare.

Emma spends her days as the Director of Talent Acquisition & HR Systems at our home office. Most days she’s racing around the office—handling the company’s recruiting efforts, building employee programs, and ensuring fresh&easy is a great place to work.

Ever wonder what it would be like to spend a day without the use of your legs? Last week, Emma did just that! Inspired by her dear friend, Janne Kouri, an avid athlete who suffered a life-changing spinal cord injury six years ago, Emma took on of NextStep’s Wheelchair For A Day Challenge, to experience first-hand the difficulties of living with paralysis and to raise over $8,000 for the cause.

Emma spent the entire day in a wheelchair: starting the day at her home; getting herself ready for work; navigating the corridors and cubicles in the office; holding business meetings; grocery shopping at a fresh&easy neighborhood market; and finally, home to cook dinner and relax.

“You just don’t realize the parts of your body that would ache,” says Emma. “When I got out of the chair later that evening, I expected my arms and shoulders to be sore, but what I was surprised about was how my legs and back sore due to the immobility.”

But, while the physical challenge was expected, she didn’t anticipate just how emotional the day would be. While she had the support of her incredible co-workers at fresh&easy, Emma says that you don’t really realize all of the small things you take for granted until you aren’t able to do them with ease.

She added, “Just thinking of the restrictions being in the chair has on your everyday life was quite a humbling experience!”

We’re so proud of Emma for spending the day in someone else’s shoes and shining light on a wonderful organization in her local community! After all, isn’t that what being a good neighbor is all about?

Want to work with people who respect and care about each other and our local communities? Join us! Search jobs now or join our Talent Community.