A visit to any bookstore or library will quickly reveal that
there’s an overwhelming supply of resume books offering a host of conflicting
advice about how best to construct a resume.
At best, they can tell you how to produce an acceptable
document. At worst, the guidance is downright damaging. The books ignore
psychological processes that the writer and target audience need to focus on.
The following seven principles are aimed at these strategic
concerns. While targeted at managerial- and executive-level readers, the
principles apply to job seekers at any career stage. The moment is here. Seize
it!
1. Write your accomplishments with the employer’s bottom line in
mind. Review your resume from the employer’s perspective: I’m the
company and I’m spending ‘X’ amount of money on you. What’s my return on my
investment? How can you make the company more profitable? That’s what your
resume should scream loud and clear to the reader, particularly your
accomplishments, which should address how a previous employer’s bottom line
benefited from your employment. When writing your accomplishments you want to
answer this question for the resume reader: Why should I select you, and not
one of the other hundreds of people whose resumes are sitting on my desk?
2. Inspire confidence in yourself and others. This is
among the most important items in the checklist. When you scan your resume, are
you brimming with confidence? Can you defend every word in an interview? Is
every claim truthful, credible, or substantiated in some way? Does the document
present the clearest, most convincing and unified picture possible? Does every
entry achieve the maximum impact? If you answered yes to these questions, you
have a valuable tool at your disposal. If not, keep working until you can say
yes to each one.
3. Quantify where possible. To present the scope of your
responsibility and accomplishments effectively, cite specific figures in their
proper context. They will add credibility, highlight specific items, show where
you fit into the big picture, and address a prospective employer's concerns.
Although this may seem counterintuitive, figures make a resume more readable.
4. Develop a ‘no excuse” philosophy. Spending adequate
time to create a compelling resume document is worth the effort. It’s your most
valuable credential and can mean more money in the long run. How long did you
spend in undergraduate college … four years? Maybe grad school after that for
two to five years, not to mention the time and the money. And for what?
Credentials! Stuff on paper that you hoped – and to some extent, you’ve found –
could enhance your earning power and career achievement, in addition to
culturally enriching your life.
Suppose it takes you a month, at the outside, working every
spare moment nights and weekends to compile a document that’s not only
compelling but informative, one packed with the recounting of what you have
learned and achieved in your previous jobs … the only thing that potential
employers really care about and will pay you big money for. I repeat, the
resume you wind up with is the most valuable credential you can have today.
5. Check your expectations. The hiring craze of the late
1990s may have given job seekers unrealistic expectations about their
marketability in the 2000s. They may think recruiters are dying to speak with
them. We all remember how much easier it was to get a job in the late 90’s.
Because of that, job seekers may have the feeling that it will be an easy thing
now. But we hit a recession and now a jobless recovery, so that just isn’t the
case anymore. Job seekers who are looking for new jobs typically are consumed
by their searches and anxious about their futures. If people are ignoring them
or are rude and unhelpful, it has a magnified negative effect. Guard against
this negative mindset showing up in your resume.
6. No specialty. Ms. Smith is a HR specialist and a PR
whiz. Mr. Johnson is good at consumer marketing and Internet startups. The
trouble is few people are looking for these exact combinations; they tend to
want one thing or the other. You also make yourself needlessly hard to
categorize in a compartmentalized world of job titles and job functions. The
solution is to lead with the expertise most relevant for the type of position
you are now seeking, while treating the rest as additional information.
7. Make your resume a visually appealing document. How
your resume looks is as important as what the words contained in it say about
you. That’s why you should be very careful about the appearance of your resume.
As many as 25% of job seekers with excellently worded resumes ruin their
chances because of a poor resume layout. The phrase “you never get a second
chance to make a good first impression” applies in resumes just as much as in
meeting someone for the first time. Just as you wouldn’t dream of going to a
big interview in anything other than you best outfit and polished shoes, your
resume should score a ‘10’ for how it looks. After all, your resume is the
ambassador, your packaging, an extension of yourself and what you have to offer
the company.
Joe Hodowanes, a career strategy adviser in Tampa, Florida, offers a free resume
and career analysis. Fax your resume to (813) 936-0201 or email it to
jmwanes@jmwanes.com For questions, call Joe at (813) 936-0091 or visit
www.jmwanes.com on the Web. All Job Search Advisor articles on this website are the property of
www.jmwanes.com
(J.M. Wanes & Associates). You may download
a copy for personal use. Redistribution without permission is strictly prohibited.
© 2005 J.M. Wanes & Associates.
