Make the OPTIMAL Impression

I want to introduce you to a fantastic career resource called OptimalResume. Rocky River Public Library has subscribed to OptimalResume, the leading online service to produce resumes, letters, store portfolio documents, receive interview training, perform self assessments and create video resumes. You can access your account anywhere, anytime!

You can use this website to:

• Manage an unlimited number of career documents from one central location.


• Create high-impact, interactive career materials based on your career goals.


• Share your credentials with your network on your own professional website and across social networking sites.

Check out all the great tools OptimalResume offers:

Resumes – build your resume from a high-quality sample or create your own. Portfolios - Online portfolios document your education, work samples, and skills. They are very useful for applying to jobs and training programs, demonstrating your transferable skills, and tracking your professional development. Portfolios are made up of projects that contain files and links. The portfolio builder supports many common document, image, audio and video file types.

Interview Prep - You control all aspects of your interview practice session, including the interview type, the number of questions, your response format, and the interviewer. This is a great way to practice your answers for an interview and become comfortable

Website Builder - You can create a customized website that includes a variety of professional documents, as well as links to your social networking profiles, like LinkedIn and Twitter. You can link viewers to your blog and add a professional photo. You can even keep your website confidential and allow only certain people to see it.

The Letter Builder - The letter builder combines expert advice and high-quality samples to help you create focused, targeted letters many opportunities. Cover letters are so important because they can provide an employer with a positive impression of you and your accomplishments.

Skill Assessment - If you are thinking of entering the workforce or changing careers, the skills assessment module is a great place to start. Skills assessments can help you identify and present your transferable skills and abilities to prospective employers and are especially helpful for creating targeted resumes and cover letters, and preparing for job interviews.

Video Resume - The video resume module makes it easy to introduce yourself and highlight your professional capabilities to prospective employers. There are two ways you can create your video resume. Option 1 is to create a short script for your video resume and to use the built-in teleprompter when recording. Option 2 is to skip creating a script and to begin recording your video resume immediately.

To access this amazing resource, visit our website at http://www.rrpl.org/. Click on ‘My Research’ at the top of our homepage. On the next page you'll find a link to the OptimalResume website.

Not Too Late To Pick Up a Beach Read

NPR listeners recently voted for their favorite top 100 Beach Reads of all time. The titles run from classics to the latest bestsellers. I know many of my favorites are listed. Why not check out the list and grab a good read? Summer will be over before you know it.

Better Than Google Biographies

Biography Reference Bank from WilsonWeb offers thousands of full-text biographies all in one easy-to-use database. Available from RRPL's website with your library card, BRB now offers the ability to hear a document or translate it into several different languages, even Chinese!

This new feature is especially useful for the visually impaired or non-English speakers. At the top of any biography you are viewing, there is a link to "Listen to Document." Click this, and a pop-up window will open showing the bio, with options to listen to it (you can download the audio also if you wish).

Download and Listen UP!!

Did you know that our OverDrive download serivce now has more iPod-friendly audiobooks? Just upgrade your OverDrive Media Console and your iPod will play the windows-based files.

Even if your not in to the latest bestsellers, there's plenty to pick from. Try one of the Freeway Guides to make your drive more productive:

Nailing the Job Interview

Confident Public Speaking

Effective Networking

For more information visit http://www.digiload.org/

Researching The Economic Downturn?--Get The Facts!

Having trouble deciphering the governmental double speak? Wondering what events caused all this economic mess? Get THE FACTS about the Economic Crisis as well as many other topics from our Facts on File World News Digest database that covers world events from 1940 to the present day. Just click on the "locally purchased databases" link on our webpage and enter your library card number. There you'll find in-depth coverage of the Economic Crisis, Iraq War, obituaries back to 1980, and even newspaper editorials. You can even click on the "research topics" links to get ideas for your student research papers. Why waste time googling when you can get the facts at your fingertips?

Finding Help in Tough Times

The State Library of Ohio has launched a new webpage called Find Help in Tough Times, a one-stop center on their website created to help state residents quickly locate important information and resources during these difficult economic times.

Find Help in Tough Times is divided into six sections that include, Employment, Financial, Health & Wellness, Housing, Parenting, and Help for Seniors. Within these sections there are links to help with topics such as finding jobs, training opportunities, services for the unemployed, insurance, home health care, childcare, tax help, and more.

Wolfram Alpha - The knowledge engine

Have you tried the new computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha? If not, you need to check it out. Its not a search engine, but rather a tool to help you compute just about anything. Try asking it to compare Lincoln and JFK--you'll get their full names, birth and death dates and places as well as a timeline to show when they lived.

It can compare stocks, do complicated math equations and just about anything else involving numbers.