How to Reboot your Resume

In today's economy the job market continues to shrink as companies go to extreme efforts to do more with less. As a result there are more and more people competing for fewer and fewer jobs. It is not uncommon for a single job posting to generate over a thousand resumes.

Imagine being the hiring manager for the average job posting. When you consider the fact that filling an open position is not part of a manager's daily responsibilities you begin to understand the importance of eliminating as many resumes as possible. To win the all important interview your resume has to make it past the HR gatekeepers to the hiring manager, evade the first cut and into the 10% pile, then to the short list to be considered for an initial interview. In some cases there is even more filtering.

By now you should begin to see the important role your resume plays in landing a great job. In the sections below I will share with you over twenty years of experience on both sides of the hiring process. Hopefully these tips will help your resume rise to the top and get you in the door.

Once you have your ultimate resume supercharged you are ready to learn the secrets to a successful phone interview and the all important personal interview (coming soon).

Most people will say 'to get a job'. That answer would be wrong. The correct answer is 'to get an interview.'

1. Begin with the end in mind: Borrowed from Steven Covey's Seven Habits book, starting at the end is the best strategy for landing the perfect job. To start at the end you first need to describe your ultimate job. While this description will not go into your resume directly, understanding what you want in a job sets your focal point on the prize. With a clear understanding of what you want in your next job writing your resume will be that much easier. So write a description of your ideal job. Include details such as how much will you be compensated, where will it be, your level of responsibility, if you manage others or be a part of a team. The most important part of your description should be how it will make you feel. This last one is the most important.

2. Perform a SWOT analysis: What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? This is a typical way businesses make major decisions. This can help you write your resume to convince a manager that selecting you will be a smart business decision.

   • Strengths: what do you do well, how have you improved yourself, what have you accomplished, what can you offer your next employer? These are the areas you want to highlight in your resume.

   • Weaknesses: what areas do you feel you could do better. Knowing this you can downplay these areas in your resume.

   • Opportunities: Along with your strengths you should identify any significant benefits you bring to the table where the company would see immediate benefits.

   • Threats: If you have any problem areas in your emplyment history you should identify them so you can plan for how you will handle them your resume and interviews.

3. What is your ROI? It may sound inhumane but companies see labor as an investment. In order to get approval to for a new position managers must show the benefits of adding staff. Most go through an ROI like analysis to show how the new position will add value to the company, and ultimately to the bottom line. Get clear on what you bring to the table and how will you make or save money or add value. Look at the positions you are interest in and ask yourself 'does this role help reduce cost, increase revenue, generate new business, prevent loss, improve quality, etc. This information will be very important when you begin constructing your resume and presenting yourself in the interview.

4. What is your 30-second commercial? Everyone should have a 30 second commercial; a quick "what I can do for you" advertisement. If you can't tell someone what you can do for them in under 30-seconds you will not be very convincing in an interview. Once you have your 30-second commercial developed use it as your Professional Summary

5. Lead with a great headline: Every great product or company has a great slogan; "Just do it", "I'm luv'n it", "Quality is job one." Take your 30-second commercial and now boil it down to a single slogan.

6. Put the best 'above the fold': In the publishing business the most important content is printed "above the fold". This term describes the top half of a newspaper or magazine. This section is designed to catch the readers eye and get them to continue reading below the fold and beyond. So a lot of work goes into the headline, the graphics, and the summary. Your resume should be the same. It should lead the readers eye from your Target Job Title and Professioanal Summary to to the most impressive content of your resume.

7. Keep your wording active: When writing about your experience make sure to use action words that pop. Instead of saying "managed a production team", say "directed a production team." This makes you sound more involved and knowledgeable. Other active words include Implemented, Delivered, Analyzed, Improved, Created, Advised.

8. Attack the "What have you done for me lately" mentality: When you list your experience by job make sure to weight the most recent jobs the strongest with detail and impact. As you go back in history you can cut down your list to the most impressive items but with less detail.

9. Keep it clean: When it comes to resume scanning cleaner is better than maximum content. If your resume is to cluttered or information is crammed together without breaks or white space between sections the reviewer has to search harder for the items they are looking for. If you make them work too hard your resume is likely to end up in the exclude pile.

10. Keep in simple: Don't go crazy with fancy formats, fonts, colors, or layout. Again, this is not a design contest. If you are applying for a design related roll leave the fancy stuff for your portfolio. There are better ways to show off your work than in your resume design.

11. Chronological vs. Functional: The resume books all tell you to use a chronological layout when you have consistant employment, and to use a functional layout when you have periods of unemployment or jobs outside of your industry. I recommend having both and here is why. You will need a chronological resume because employers and head hunters will ask for one. You should create a functional resume even if you don't have gaps because it helps you organize your accomplishments by skill and role which helps with your chronological resume. They can and should compliment each other. As far as handling problem areas in your resume, if you build it right either format will sell.

12. How long should I make my resume, 1, 2, or 3 pages? If you write a great resume it really doesn't matter how long it is. Think about how you read a magazine or newspaper. You scan the headlines and summary to see what you want to read further. Chances are you will only continue reading as long as the article draws you deeper. Your resume should be the same. Hit them hard at the beginning and they will read through the details.

Basic structure

While there are many ways to create the look of the resume it is important for the information to flow in order of importance. Here is an example of the content organized by importance.

Target job title

This should be very specific and should reflect the job you are applying for. If you are applying for several different but related job titles you should create a separate resume for each job title.

Performance Profile or Career Summary

This may be known as Job Objective or Career Objective in the past but this doesn't fit the current hiring climate. Employers do not care about your career goals. They only want to know what you will achieve for them. Write a single paragraph, 3 to 4 sentences describing what you bring to the table. This is your sales pitch and may be the only shot you get at making it to the short list so punch it up and make it sizzle.

Core Competencies

This section will be the first place the hiring manager will scan to see if you have the skills required for the position. List out all of your skills you have relevant to the industry of your profession. Make sure you include every skill that matches the required skills in the job posting and put them first. If you only have a few of the required skills, or if your matching skills are only a small number of your complete list of skills use bold print to make them stand out from the rest.

Professional Competencies

If you have any additional skills specific to your expertise or market niche list them separately. This shows a level of specialization above and beyond the basic industry skills.

Professional Experience

Your professional experience should be in reverse chronological order with your most recent job listed first. The content of each job should include;

• Company name and location

• Important fact about company; only use if company is an industry leader or revenue leader

• Title

• Start and end month and year

• Accomplishments and responsibilities

• Promotion information

Education

List in reverse chronological order any formal education. Only include high school if you are a recent college graduate. Include special awards, positions or titles in academic activities, class rank, or GPA only if worth bragging about

Licenses / Professional Accreditations / Certifications

List any non-degree achievements, membership in professional organizations, or professional certifications

Ongoing Professional Education

List any educational programs currently enrolled. This is importance because it shows your commitment to continued learning.

Publications / Patents / Speaking Languages

This section let's you showcase your accomplishments above and beyond your job responsibilities and educational pursuits.

Extracurricular Activities interests

This section is more of a bonus section. It doesn't add a lot of value but may make a difference in a close elimination round.

References available upon request

Hiring managers assume you will have references so they do not need to be listed on your resume.

Copyright ©2012 David Cook