March 2011 Newsletter from Shelly Rosenberg

Editing, Proofreading & Resume
March 2011 Newsletter
from the desk of
Shelly Rosenberg
www.shellyrosenberg.com

Taxes & Housekeeping

Wait, I hear you saying, this is an editing, proofreading and resume newsletter, why is there talk about taxes and housekeeping? There are two issues that have come to mind and I would like to share them with you as they relate to resumes and to “housekeeping” of your files:
Resumes and Income Taxes
Housekeeping for Your files

Resumes and Income Taxes

It is tax season in the United States. We file our income tax returns by the middle of April each year so the time between the first week of February, when most companies have sent us tax information for the previous year, and the second week of April we consider as Tax Season.

We can reduce our tax bill by showing deductions for products or services we have received in our work or in our lives in general. There and numerous and detailed guidelines to help us but the tax structure is so complex that a large majority of people employ a tax consultant or Certified Public Accountant to help us prepare our tax returns. But, we need to inform that professional of all the expenses we have incurred.

I have become aware that the cost of resume preparation, in many cases, is tax deductible. There are many rules and restrictions regarding this but it is worth looking into. You might be able to deduct the fee you paid me to create or edit your resume. You might be able to deduct the cost of printing or copying your resume to send to potential employers. You might be able to deduct the postage cost and transportation associated with your job seeking endeavors.

In the US, check with a tax professional when you are seeking a job to determine if your job seeking activities can be deducted for income tax purposes.

I have no idea how this might apply to people not in the US, but it is worth contacting a professional to see if you qualify to deduct these services when preparing your income tax returns.

Housekeeping for Your Files

Within the past week, I have received two requests from clients asking if I had copies of their edited work, work that I had done in the past year or two. In one case, the client had inadvertently deleted the final draft of her novel. She was devastated. In the other case, the client had a computer failure that caused him to lose a large number of files. He was distraught when his resume was among the lost files.

Fortunately, I was able to help in both cases. I keep copies of all the work I do for clients, unless for some reason they ask me to not keep a copy of the files. As you know, these files are all confidential and are never shared with anyone else.

Here are some ideas of housekeeping for your files:
· Do a periodic backup of your important files. You can use read/write discs as your backup medium. Or, better yet, get an external drive, which gives you more storage space. My external drive is made by Maxtor. It has a built-in backup procedure, which allows you to determine which libraries and files to back up. It will backup any files that have been added or modified since the last backup. I do this weekly.
· Keep copies of your modified files. For instance, if you have created two or more versions of your resume – one of technical jobs and one for management jobs (for instance) – keep a copy of each. And, if you make minor modifications targeting a specific job, keep each of these modified versions. Make sure to give a descriptive name to each file so that it is easily identifiable.
· Set up an organized folder system. Group like files in a single folder but create different folders for different purposes. For instance, if you are job seeking, set up a folder for each job for which you are applying. In the folder, keep a copy of the resume that you sent to apply for the job. Keep a copy of all letters, cover letters, thank you letters, etc. that you have sent to the company. Also, keep a document with a running account of all the activities concerning that job including when you sent the resume, when you called the company, when and where you had an interview, etc.



Final Comments

I hope these suggestions are useful to you. Please keep me informed of any topics you would like me to include in my next newsletter. Happy spring to you all.


“My goal is to enhance your text in a way that makes it clear and error free so that it is ready to be read by your professor, your readership, your clients, your future employer, your current employer, your agent or your publisher.”
Shelly Rosenberg

Shelly@ShellyRosenberg.com