4. Agenda
• Tips and Techniques
– What a Resume is NOT
– What is a Resume
– Common Resume Mistakes
– Do’s and Don’ts
• Resume Rescues
• How to Get Your Resume Rescued
In today’s Resume Rescue Webinar We’ll:
5. Your Resume Is
Not
• . . .a history lesson – nothing to do with your
past
• . . . a chance to brag on yourself –
unsubstantiated statements
• . . .focused on you – where’s the beef?
• . . .a place for excuses
• . . .meant to get you the job – it’s job is to get
you the interview
7. Your Resume
Is. . .
• Marketing Document
• You in Abstensia (my own word, admittedly)
• The professional “story” of you
• An hor dourve – meant to whet their appetite
and leave them anticipating and wanting more
8. Common Resume
Mistakes
• No contact information on first or subsequent page
• Inappropriate email address
• Lack of focus – no real idea what you want to do
• No accomplishments, outcomes, results – doesn’t tell
them how well you did what you did
• No evidence the person can do the job
• Personal pronouns (“I”, “We”, “Our”) - phrases
• “Responsible for. . .” “Duties included. . .”
• “References Available Upon Request”
• Listing References on the resume
9. Tips
• Never lie on your resume – tell the complete
story and allow the facts to speak for themselves
• Don’t brag – unsubstantiated boasting is a turn-
off
• Don’t fail to provide the details that show how
well you have performed
• Don’t tell them what you think is important, tell
them what is important to them
• Don’t focus on the tasks or on the past – focus on
what they focus on – what you can do for them
10. Tips
• Get your resume in front of someone who can
help you get the interview – network!
• Keep your resume up to date at all times
• Highlight what is important to the specific
employer to which you are applying- no
generic content for resumes used to apply
• Job fair? Do your research in advance and
prepare targeted resumes for companies of
interest
11. Tips
• Job description copied word for word (BofA)
• Use visual interest to help draw the eye to
important areas
• Your resume is like luxury beach front
property – highly valuable, don’t pitch a tent,
build a house – don’t waste space
• Qualify and quantify as much as possible – tell
how well ($/%/#)
12. Stuff To Know
• How do you know if you should apply?
– READ the description thoroughly and identify if you
have in the past or currently done what is being asked
of you.
• Volunteer work is work, internship is work, etc.
• Relevant experience is necessary – even if it is
volunteer or internship
– you have to show how well you performed and what
you accomplished. The skills and impact are what
count
13. Stuff To Know
• If you haven’t held the title of manager, but
you have managed projects, people or
processes, tell them how well – what were the
outcomes, results, impact, etc.
– Have you taken lead on a project?
– Have you initiated a projects?
– Have you managed volunteers?
– Have you supervised new employees?
14. How to Present Your Experience
• Context
• Action
• Results
• Effect/Evaluation
How to Present
Information
15. How to Present
Information
• Order of importance
– Who
– What
– Where
– When
– Why
– How
• How we read
How to Present Your Experience
16. How to Present
Information
The Title of Your Position
Where You Held the Position (with Location)
Dates
Accomplishments
Director of Marketing Company Name/Address Dates
How to Present Your Experience
18. Top Secret – you can still C.A.R.E.
I had an issue of national security where I was
called upon to (identify, decode, analyze. . .)
Because I was able to identify. . . within a tight
window [give time frame if possible] we were able
to avert a security breech and ensure we
maintained. . .
How to Present
Information
What About What You Can’t Talk About?
20. Handouts
You will receive:
• ATS Document
• Resume Rubric
• Do’s and Don’ts Sheet
• Feedback on your resume if you submitted
• Link for SlideShare and Recording of Program
• Invitation to participate in Resume Workshop
Thank You For Attending
Your resume is being screened OUT, by the applicant tracking system, and by the human who reviews it – if it gets that far
They are looking for reasons not to move you forward in the process, you don’t want to give them those reasons.
Unfortunately too many times, applicants do give reasons not to move forward, and often it is simply because they are not focusing on what the employer is focusing on.
How your resume is presented makes a lot of difference in the process. Too much or too little white space, misspellings, poor grammar or punctuation, lack of attention to detail, no focus to the resume, etc.
Your past accomplishments are simply the evidence of what you can and presumptively will do for them
Allow your accomplishments to speak for you by telling the whole story – Context/Action/Results/Effect (or evaluation)
Context can be set by numbers, a span of time, a budget, a number of people, a circumstance, . . .
Action you took in response to the circumstance and requirements
Results of what you did – what value did it bring to the company or organization
Effect/Evaluation -
I am a superb communicator
I am excellent at. . .
I excel at. . .
Don’t tell them, show them
It should give them a feel for who you are, not just what you have done
Analogy – if they are auditioning a singer and you tell them you have 12 years of tap and jazz training, 17 years of ballet, 5 years of hip-hop – are they going to want to audition you for the singing role? NO. They want a singer and no matter how good you are at dance, they will not audition you for the role of a singer.
Most people are tempted to try to tell them everything – you cannot and should not – tell them what they need to know, whet their appetite and allow the resume to do it’s job – get you the interview
Tell them what they need to know to get them excited about talking to you – ultimate goal of your resume – getting in front of the person who can hire you
Tell them what they are interested in knowing
When you are trying to figure out what you should put on your resume, remember: you do not need to tell them everything you have done, tell them what you can do that aligns with what they want you to do.
Page length: if you are not experienced, you do not need more than one page. However if you have work experience you can confidently use two – and sometimes more – pages. Most recruiters do not have a limit to two pages, as long as what you are telling them is relevant (and presented in an interesting manner) to the position you are applying for. This does not mean that listing every bullet from your job description is acceptable because it is relevant to the job you are seeking.
People often feel compelled to embellish their resume so that they can get noticed – it may work and you may get the interview, but if you do, you have to keep up the embellishment and if you get caught, you will automatically NOT get the job or you will be fired.
You want to employer to CARE – so you have to show them why they should
Tell them the context of what you did
What action did you take – not your team, co-workers, etc, but YOU
What happened as a result
What effect did it have or evaluate how it carries over to the new employer
Cool Tools is a series that we will continue in the future to share with you the various tools out there to help you manage your job search and career.
In our first installment of Cool Tools back in October, we told you about 5 great tools:
Linked in (THE networking and research tool that should be in your arsenal),
Workfolio (online resume, visual story telling tool),
Wordle (create word clouds and know what is important to employers),
Payscale (pay, benefits, your marketplace value, career pathing and planning, so much more),
and the Virtual Career Center – our tools to help you in job search, networking, researching, and more.
In today’s Cool Tools Webinar we’ll:
Journalist write a story based on the order of importance – how we want to get information
Notice, if something happens you first want to know who was involved
Then what happened
Then where it happened
Then why it occurred, and/or how it occurred
Use this order of importance to your benefit
Keep in mind also how we read – top to bottom, left to right
Most important information goes at top left and works to the right and down
What to bold, highlight, etc.
Do not summarize the company – keep your resume focused on you and your contributions / achievements
Targeting is not about writing a completely new resume
You should have a database of accomplishments, outcomes, results, facts and figures that you can quickly pull and place in your resume to apply for any positon for which you qualify