Part 2 - HOW TO KNOCK THEIR SOCKS OFF
Research shows that only
one interview is granted for every 200 resumes received by the average
employer. Research also tells us that your resume will be quickly scanned,
rather than read. Ten to 20 seconds is all the time you have to persuade a
prospective employer to read further. What this means is that the decision to
interview a candidate is usually based on an overall first impression of the
resume, a quick screening that so impresses the reader and convinces them of
the candidate's qualifications that an interview results. As a result, the top
half of the first page of your resume will either make you or break you. By the
time they have read the first few lines, you have either caught their interest,
or your resume has failed. That is why we say that your resume is an ad. You
hope it will have the same result as a well-written ad: to get the reader to
respond.
To write an effective
resume, you have to learn how to write powerful but subtle advertising copy. Not only that, but
you must sell a product in which you have a large personal investment: you.
What's worse, given the fact that most of us do not think in a
marketing-oriented way naturally, you are probably not looking forward to
selling anything, let alone yourself. But if you want to increase your job
hunting effectiveness as much as possible, you would be wise to learn to write
a spectacular resume.
You do not need to hard
sell or make any claims that are not absolutely true. You do need to get over
your modesty and unwillingness to toot your own horn. People more often buy the
best advertised product than the best product. That is good news if you are
willing to learn to create an excellent resume. With a little extra effort, you
will usually get a better response from prospective employers than people with
better credentials.
FOCUS ON THE EMPLOYER'S NEEDS,
NOT YOURS
Imagine
that you are the person doing the hiring. This person is not some anonymous
paper pusher deep in the bowels of the personnel department. Usually, the
person who makes the hiring decision is also the person who is responsible for
the bottom line productivity of the project or group you hope to join. This is
a person who cares deeply how well the job will be done. You need to write your
resume to appeal directly to them.
Ask
yourself: What would make someone the perfect candidate? What
does the employer really want? What special abilities would this person have?
What would set a truly exceptional candidate apart from a merely good one?
If you
are seeking a job in a field you know well, you probably already know what
would make someone a superior candidate. If you are not sure, you can gather
hints from the help-wanted ad you are answering, from asking other people who
work in the same company or the same field. You could even call the prospective
employer and ask them what they want. Don't make wild guesses unless you have
to. It is very important to do this step well. If you are not addressing their
real needs, they will not respond to your resume.
Putting
yourself in the moccasins of the person doing the hiring is the first, and most
important, step in writing a resume that markets you rather than describes your
history or herstory. Every step in producing a finished document should be part
of your overall intention to convey to the prospective employer that you are a
truly exceptional candidate.
PLAN FIRST
Focus
your writing efforts. Get clear what the employer is looking for and what you
have to offer before you begin your resume. Write your answers to the above
mentioned question, "What would make someone the perfect candidate?"
on notebook paper, one answer per page. Prioritize the sheets of paper, based
on which qualities or abilities you think would be most important to the person
doing the hiring.
Then,
starting with the top priority page, fill the rest of that page, or as much of
it as you can, with brainstorming about why you are the person who best
fulfills the employer's needs. Write down everything you have ever done that
demonstrates that you fit perfectly with what is wanted and needed by the
prospective employer.
The
whole idea is to loosen up your thinking enough so that you will be able to see
some new connections between what you have done and what the employer is
looking for. You need not confine yourself to work-related
accomplishments. Use your entire life as the palette to paint with. If Sunday
school or your former gang are the only places you have had a chance to
demonstrate your special gift for teaching and leadership, fine. The point is
to cover all possible ways of thinking about and communicating what you do
well. What are the talents you bring to the market place? What do you have to
offer the prospective employer?
If
you are making a career change or are a young person and new to the job market,
you are going to have to be especially creative in getting across what makes
you stand out. These brainstorming pages will be the raw material from which
you craft your resume. One important part of the planning process is to decide
which resume format fits your needs best. Don't automatically assume that a
traditional format will work best for you. More about that later.
A GREAT RESUME HAS TWO SECTIONS
In the
first, you make assertions about your abilities, qualities and achievements.
You write powerful, but honest, advertising copy that makes the reader
immediately perk up and realize that you are someone special.
The
second section, the evidence section, is where you back up your assertions with
evidence that you actually did what you said you did. This is where you list
and describe the jobs you have held, your education, etc. This is all the stuff
you are obliged to include.
Most
resumes are just the evidence section, with no assertions. If you have trouble
getting to sleep, just read a few resumes each night before going to bed.
Nothing puts people to sleep better than the average resume.
The
juice is in the assertions section. When a prospective employer finishes
reading your resume, you want them to immediately reach for the phone to invite
you in to interview. The resumes you have written in the
past have probably been a gallant effort to inform the reader. You don't want
them informed. You want them interested and excited.
In
fact, it is best to only hint at some things. Leave the reader wanting more.
Leave them with a bit of mystery. That way, they have even more reason to reach
for the phone. The assertions section usually has two or three sections. In all
of them, your job is to communicate, assert and declare that you are the best
possible candidate for the job and that you are hotter than a picnic on
Mercury.
You
start by naming your intended job. This may be in a separate Objective section,
or may be folded into the second section, the Summary. If you are making a
change to a new field, or are a young person not fully established in a career,
start with a separate Objective section.
THE OBJECTIVE
Ideally,
your resume should be pointed toward conveying why you are the perfect
candidate for one specific job or job title. Good advertising is directed
toward a very specific target audience.
When a
car company is trying to sell their inexpensive compact to an older audience,
they show grandpa and grandma stuffing the car with happy, shiny grandchildren
and talk about how safe and economical the car is. When they advertise the
exact same car to the youth market, they show it going around corners on two
wheels, with plenty of drums and power chords thundering in the background. You
want to focus your resume just as specifically.
Targeting
your resume requires that you be absolutely clear about your career
direction--or at least that you appear to be clear. If you aren't clear where
you are going, you wind up wherever the winds of chance blow you. You would be
wise to use this time of change to design your future career so you have a
clear target that will meet your goals and be personally fulfilling. Even if
you are a little vague about what you are looking for, you cannot let your
uncertainty show. With a nonexistent, vague or overly broad objective, the
first statement you make to a prospective employer says you are not sure this
is the job for you.
The way
to demonstrate your clarity of direction or apparent clarity is to have the
first major topic of your resume be your OBJECTIVE.
Let's
look at a real world example. Suppose the owner of a small software company
puts an ad in the paper seeking an experienced software sales person. A week
later they have received 500 resumes. The applicants have a bewildering variety
of backgrounds. The employer has no way of knowing whether any of them are
really interested in selling software.
They
remember all the jobs they applied for that they didn't really want. They know
that many of the resumes they received are from people who are just using a
shotgun approach, casting their seed to the winds. Then they come across a
resume in the pile that starts with the following:
OBJECTIVE
- a software sales position in an organization seeking an extraordinary record
of generating new accounts, exceeding sales targets and enthusiastic customer
relations.
This
wakes them up. They are immediately interested. This first sentence conveys
some very important and powerful messages: "I want exactly the job you are
offering. I am a superior candidate because I recognize the qualities that are
most important to you, and I have them. I want to make a contribution to your company."
This works well because the employer is smart enough to know that someone who
wants to do exactly what they are offering will be much more likely to succeed
than someone who doesn't. And that person will probably be a lot more pleasant
to work with as well.
Secondly,
this candidate has done a good job of establishing why they are the perfect
candidate in their first sentence. They have thought about what qualities would
make a candidate stand out. They have started communicating that they are that
person immediately. What's more, they are communicating from the point of view
of making a contribution to the employer.
They
are not writing from a self-centered point of view. Even when people are savvy
enough to have an objective, they often make the mistake of saying something
like, "a position where I can hone my skill as a scissors sharpener."
or something similar. The employer is interested in hiring you for what you can
do for them, not for fulfilling your private goals and agenda.
Here's
how to write your objective. First of all, decide on a
specific job title for your objective. Go back to your list of answers to the
question "How can I demonstrate that I am the perfect candidate?"
What are the two or three qualities, abilities or achievements that would make
a candidate stand out as truly exceptional for that specific job?
The
person in the above example recognized that the prospective employer, being a
small, growing software company, would be very interested in candidates with an
ability to generate new accounts. So they made that the very first point they
got across in their resume.
Be sure
the objective is to the point. Do not use fluffy phrases that are obvious or do
not mean anything, such as: "allowing the ability to enhance potential and
utilize experience in new challenges." An objective may be broad and still
somewhat undefined in some cases, such as: "a mid-level management
position in the hospitality or entertainment industry."
Remember,
your resume will only get a few seconds attention, at best! You have to
generate interest right away, in the first sentence they lay their eyes on.
Having an objective statement that really sizzles is highly effective. And it's
simple to do. One format is:
OBJECTIVE:
An xxx position in an organization where yyy and zzz would be needed (or, in an
organization seeking yyy and zzz).
Xxx is
the name of the position you are applying for. Yyy and zzz are the most
compelling qualities, abilities or achievements that will really make you stand
out above the crowd of applicants. Your previous research to find out what is
most important to the employer will provide the information to fill in yyy and
zzz.
If you
are applying for several different positions, you should adapt your resume to
each one. There is nothing wrong with having several different resumes, each
with a different objective, each specifically crafted for a different type of
position. You may even want to change some parts of your resume for each job
you apply for. Have an objective that is perfectly matched with the job you are
applying for. Remember, you are writing advertising copy, not your life story.
It is
sometimes appropriate to include your Objective in your Summary section rather
than have a separate Objective section. (Examples to follow.) The point of
using an Objective is to create a specific psychological response in the mind
of the reader.
If you
are making a career change or have a limited work history, you want the
employer to immediately focus on where you are going, rather than where you
have been. If you are looking for another job in your present field, it is more
important to stress your qualities, achievements and abilities first.
A few
examples of separate Objective sections:
·
Vice president of marketing in an organization where a strong
track record of expanding market share and internet savvy is needed.
·
Senior staff position with a bank that offers the opportunity to
use my expertise in commercial real estate lending and strategic management.
·
An entry-level position in the hospitality industry where a
background in advertising and public relations would be needed.
·
A position teaching English as a second language where a special
ability to motivate and communicate effectively with students would be needed.
·
Divemaster in an organization where an extensive knowledge of
Carribean sea life and a record of leaving customers feeling they have had a
once-in-a lifetime experience is needed.
THE SUMMARY
The
"Summary" or "Summary of Qualifications" consists of
several concise statements that focus the reader's attention on the most
important qualities, achievements and abilities you have to offer. Those
qualities should be the most compelling demonstrations of why they should hire
you instead of the other candidates. It gives you a brief opportunity to
telegraph a few of your most sterling qualities. It is your one and only chance
to attract and hold their attention, to get across what is most important, and
to entice the employer to keep reading.
This is
the spiciest part of the resume. This may be the only section fully read by the
employer, so it should be very strong and convincing. The Summary is the one
place to include professional characteristics (extremely energetic, a gift for
solving complex problems in a fast-paced environment, a natural salesman,
exceptional interpersonal skills, committed to excellence, etc.) which may be
helpful in winning the interview. Gear every word in the Summary to your
targeted goal.
How to
write a Summary? Go back to your lists that answer the question, What would
make someone the ideal candidate? Look for the qualities the employer will care
about most. Then look at what you wrote about why you are the perfect person to
fill their need. Pick the stuff that best demonstrates why they should hire
you. Assemble it into your Summary section.
The
most common ingredients of a well-written Summary are as follows. Of course,
you would not use all these ingredients in one Summary. Use the ones that
highlight you best.
·
A short phrase describing your profession
·
Followed by a statement of broad or specialized expertise
·
Followed by two or three additional statements related to any of
the following:
o
breadth or depth of skills
o
unique mix of skills
o
range of environments in which you have experience
o
a special or well-documented accomplishment
o
a history of awards, promotions, or superior performance
commendations
·
One or more professional or appropriate personal characteristics
·
A sentence describing professional objective or interest.
Notice
that the examples below show how to include your objective in the Summary
section. If you are making a career change, your Summary section should show
how what you have done in the past prepares you to do what you seek to do in
the future. If you are a young person new to the job market, your Summary will
be based more on ability than experience.
A few
examples of Summary sections:
·
Highly motivated, creative and versatile real estate executive
with seven years of experience in property acquisition, development and
construction, as well as the management of large apartment complexes.
Especially skilled at building effective, productive working relationships with
clients and staff. Excellent management, negotiation and public relations
skills. Seeking a challenging management position in the real estate field that
offers extensive contact with the public.
·
Over 10 years as an organizational catalyst/training design
consultant with a track record of producing extraordinary results for more than
20 national and community based organizations. A commitment to human
development and community service. Energetic self-starter with excellent
analytical, organizational, and creative skills.
·
Financial Management Executive with nearly ten years of
experience in banking and international trade, finance, investments and
economic policy. Innovative in structuring credit enhancement for corporate and
municipal financing. Skilled negotiator with strong management, sales and
marketing background. Areas of expertise include (a bulleted list would follow
this paragraph.)
·
Health Care Professional experienced in management, program
development and policy making in the United States as well as in several
developing countries. Expertise in emergency medical services. A talent for
analyzing problems, developing and simplifying procedures, and finding
innovative solutions. Proven ability to motivate and work effectively with
persons from other cultures and all walks of life. Skilled in working within a
foreign environment with limited resources.
·
Commander - Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Navy, Atlantic
Fleet. Expertise in all areas of management, with a proven record of
unprecedented accomplishment. History of the highest naval awards and rapid
promotion. Proven senior-level experience in executive decision-making, policy
direction, strategic business planning, Congressional relations, financial and
personnel management, research and development, and aerospace engineering.
Extensive knowledge of government military requirements in systems and
equipment. Committed to the highest levels of professional and personal
excellence.
·
Performing artist with a rich baritone voice and unusual range,
specializing in classical, spiritual, gospel and rap music. Featured soloist
for two nationally televised events. Accomplished pianist. Extensive
performance experience includes television, concert tours and club acts.
Available for commercial recording and live performances.
SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In this
final part of the assertions section of your resume, you go into more detail.
You are still writing to sell yourself to the reader, not to inform them.
Basically, you do exactly what you did in the previous section, except that you
go into more detail.
In the
summary, you focused on your most special highlights. Now you tell the rest of
the best of your story. Let them know what results you produced, what happened
as a result of your efforts, what you are especially gifted or experienced at
doing. Flesh out the most important highlights in your summary.
You are
still writing to do what every good advertisement does, communicating the
following: if you buy this product, you will get these direct benefits. If it
doesn't contribute to furthering this communication, don't bother to say it.
Remember, not too much detail. Preserve a bit of mystery. Don't tell them
everything.
Sometimes
the "Skills and Accomplishments" sections is a separate section. In a
chronological resume, it becomes the first few phrases of the descriptions of
the various jobs you have held. We will cover that in a few minutes, when we
discuss the different types of resumes. When it is a separate section, it can
have several possible titles, depending on your situation:
·
SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
·
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
·
SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
·
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
·
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
·
AREAS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT AND EXPERIENCE
·
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
·
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
·
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
·
ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
There
are a number of different ways to structure "Skills and
Accomplishments" sections. In all of these styles, put your skills and
accomplishments in order of importance for the desired career goal. If you have
many skills, the last skill paragraph might be called "Additional
Skills."
Here
are a few ways you could structure your "Skills and Accomplishments"
section:
1. A
listing of skills or accomplishments or a combination of both, with bullets
Example:
SELECTED SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
·
Raised $1900 in 21 days in canvassing and
advocacy on environmental, health and consumer issues.
·
Conducted legal research for four Assistant
U.S. Attorneys, for the U.S. Attorney's office
·
Coordinated Board of Directors and
Community Advisory Board of community mental health center. Later commended as
"the best thing that ever happened to that job."
2. A
listing of major skill headings with accomplishments under each. The
accomplishments can be a bulleted list or in paragraph form. The material under
the headings should include mention of accomplishments which prove each skill.
Example:
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
National
Training Project / Conference Management.
·
Director of Outreach on Hunger, a national public
education/training project funded by USAID, foundations and all the major
church denominations. Designed, managed and promoted three-day training
conferences in cities throughout the U.S. Planned and managed 32 nationwide
training seminars and a five-day annual conference for university
vice-presidents and business executives.
Program
Design: Universities.
·
Invited by Duke University President Terry Sanford to develop
new directions and programs for the University's Office of Summer Educational
Programs, first Director of Duke's "Pre-college Program," first
editor of "Summer at Duke." Designed and successfully proposed a
center for the study of creativity at The George Washington University.
3. A
list of bulleted accomplishments or skill paragraphs under each job (in a
chronological resume).
Example:
Director
of Sales and Marketing
DELAWARE
TRADE INTERNATIONAL, INC. Wilmington, DE
·
Promoted from Sales Representative within one year of joining
company to Director of Sales and Marketing. Responsible for international sales
of raw materials, as well as printing and graphic arts equipment. Oversaw five
sales managers. Was in charge of direct sales and marketing in 17 countries
throughout Europe and the Middle East.
·
Recruited, trained and managed sales staff. Developed marketing
strategy, prepared sales projections and established quotas. Selected and
contracted with overseas sub-agents to achieve international market
penetration.
·
Negotiated and finalized long-term contractual agreements with
suppliers on behalf of clients. Oversaw all aspects of transactions, including
letters of credit, international financing, preparation of import/export
documentation, and shipping/freight forwarding.
·
Planned and administered sales and marketing budget, and
maintained sole profit/loss responsibility. Within first year, doubled
company's revenues, and produced $7-9 million in annual sales during the next
eight years.
BASIC RESUME FORMATS
There
are three basic types of resumes: Chronological, Functional, and
"combined" Chronological - Functional. To see what these styles look
like, get a resume book. They are usually terrible guides for how to write an
excellent resume, but they are good to see different formats. We would love to
show you what complete resumes look like but your web browser would probably do
unspeakable things to the formatting.
CHRONOLOGICAL
The
chronological resume is the more traditional structure for a resume. The
Experience section is the focus of the resume; each job (or the last several
jobs) is described in some detail, and there is no major section of skills or
accomplishments at the beginning of the resume. This structure is primarily
used when you are staying in the same profession, in the same type of work,
particularly in very conservative fields. It is also used in certain fields
such as law and academia. It is recommended that the chronological resume
always have an Objective or Summary, to focus the reader.
The
advantages: May appeal to older, more traditional readers and be best in very
conservative fields. Makes it easier to understand what you did in what job.
May help the name of the employer stand out more, if this is impressive. The
disadvantage is that it is much more difficult to highlight what you do best.
This format is rarely appropriate for someone making a career change.
FUNCTIONAL
The
functional resume highlights your major skills and accomplishments from the
very beginning. It helps the reader see clearly what you can do for them,
rather than having to read through the job descriptions to find out. It helps
target the resume into a new direction or field, by lifting up from all past
jobs the key skills and qualifications to help prove you will be successful in
this new direction or field. Actual company names and positions are in a
subordinate position, with no description under each. There are many different
types of formats for functional resumes. The functional resume is a must for
career changers, but is very appropriate for generalists, for those with spotty
or divergent careers, for those with a wide range of skills in their given
profession, for students, for military officers, for homemakers returning to
the job market, and for those who want to make slight shifts in their career
direction.
Advantages:
It will help you most in reaching for a new goal or direction. It is a very
effective type of resume, and is highly recommended. The disadvantage is that
it is hard for the employer to know exactly what you did in which job, which
may be a problem for some conservative interviewers.
COMBINED
COMBINED
A
combined resume includes elements of both the chronological and functional
formats. It may be a shorter chronology of job descriptions preceded by a short
"Skills and Accomplishments" section (or with a longer Summary
including a skills list or a list of "qualifications"); or, it may be
a standard functional resume with the accomplishments under headings of
different jobs held.
There
are obvious advantages to this combined approach: It maximizes the advantages
of both kinds of resumes, avoiding potential negative effects of either type.
One disadvantage is that it tends to be a longer resume. Another is that it can
be repetitious: Accomplishments and skills may have to be repeated in both the
"functional" section and the "chronological"
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