Reston, VA (PRWEB) May 6, 2009 -- Recognizing mom on her "special day" used to be a magical moment for many children, as they showered her with heartfelt gifts that showed just how much she meant to them. In today's economy, and with the National Retail Federation predicting that Mother's Day spending will be off this year, grown children are returning to the charm and affordability of homemade gifts. Leveraging their Web 2.0 skills, some children are taking advantage of free resume tools like VisualCV to make mom's job search easier and to demonstrate to potential employers why she is so extraordinary.
Jillian Koeneman a social media expert at Effect Web Media, wanted to create a memorable gift for her mom Cynthia Fargo --a special education teacher based in Michigan. With an abundance of patience and compassion for students who need extra assistance, Koeneman's mother has worked as a special education teacher and most recently was the Education Director at Sylvan Learning Center in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. However, due to the current economic climate in the hard-hit area of Detroit, the owners of her center have decided to close the doors and Ms. Fargo will soon be unemployed. In an effort to help her mom stand out from the crowd and get back to doing what she loves best, her daughter set out to create a very memorable Mother's Day gift; an online resume that would demonstrate her mom's accomplishments and her ability to help children learn and grow.
"My mom is the most unselfish and dedicated person I know - - consistently offering her students, her friends, and her family unfailing compassion and understanding," said Koeneman. "She has perserveered through many tough times and has never lost her passion to help others, and I wanted to take this opportunity to give her a gift that would allow her demonstrate her personality and skill sets so she can land a job that she is so good at and that means so much to her."
Koeneman first heard about VisualCV on Twitter and used the free online, media-rich resume tool to create a solid online presence for her husband. Unlike other solutions, VisualCV enables job seekers to go beyond traditional resume text to embed portfolio items such as sales performance charts, images, audio and video clips of work, letters of recommendation, awards and qualifications, etc. With VisualCV, candidates can take control of their career management by enabling them to deliver "first interview" content to hiring managers and recruiters right from the start. This allows them to demonstrate their expertise and accomplishments wherever they have a digital footprint including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, a personal or professional blog, e-mail signature line, etc.
"Employers are inundated with the sheer number of resumes they receive making it harder for those with exceptional skills to stand out and get noticed," said Jeffrey T. Hunter, CEO of VisualCV. "Our easy to use solution allows candidates like Cynthia to demonstrate their accomplishments as opposed to simply telling them and more importantly to stand out in a tough economic climate."
About VisualCV, Inc.
VisualCV, Inc. has reinvented the resume to make it more relevant for job searching, networking, business development and career progression within today's Web 2.0 environment. VisualCV, Inc. provides technology and support for the VisualCV, the VisualCV.com community and "Powered by VisualCV" private-label platform. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, the company has received investments from one of the world's leading executive search firms, Heidrick & Struggles (NASDAQ: HSII), and Valhalla Partners. For more information or to create a VisualCV, please visit www.visualcv.com.