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Crafting
a Resumé that gets an interview
By Robert A. Simon
bob@nmstaffing.com
Every professional, in pursuing a career, will eventually be asked
for a written record of education and work history. In academia, this
is called a curriculum vita, listing publications, research, and
references in addition to work history. Europeans typically call it a
CV while Americans call it a resumé, conveniently dropping the accent
mark. Virtually every want ad asks for resumés, and every
employment office complains about the stacks of resumés they must process.
Once exclusively paper-based, most resumés now travel the Internet. The
objectives are the same, only the medium has changed.
The resumé is important for a professional since it represents
that person as a candidate, as a set of credentials, and as a statement of
suitability for employment. The resumé is both a representation and a
marketing tool. The resumé writer must understand its purpose, form
and content, presentation, and most important, its reader.
Purpose of a Resumé
The resumé exists for a single purpose: To get an interview.
It represents the candidate but the resumé will not get the job. The
candidate must be present for that, in the employment interview. The
resumé opens the door, sets the stage, prepares the interviewer, and may
set the tone for the interview.
Resumés seldom exist alone. They seem to always be in
groups, sometimes in stacks, often arriving in the mail, or clogging fax
machines and email. They arrive in response to want ads, job
announcements, etc. Existing as they do in groups, they compete with
each other. Indeed, staffing managers cannot interview every
candidate, so they score and rate resumés in order to find the most attractive
candidates. The purpose of the resumé is to get the interview, so it
must compete with all the other resumés in the stack. It must
differentiate the candidate as the most attractive, and worthy of being
invited for an interview.
The Five Second Rule
Resumés must be written to compete for the reader’s attention,
which may be limited to only a few seconds. If a resumé is presented
in response to a large, national ad campaign, it may arrive with hundreds
of competitors. A staffing manager may have a few hours to review
several hundred resumés. Simple arithmetic establishes that the first
scan, intended to either reject or save for actual reading, may be only
five or six seconds! A rejection goes into a file, may get a form
letter about how “we are impressed with your background, but....”,
and is never reviewed again. Even those firms with sophisticated resumé
scanning and retrieval systems will seldom keep track of resumés rejected
in the first pass. There are simply too many, they age quickly, and
there is little potential return.
So the key is to appeal to the reader, quickly. The resumé
is a marketing tool, much like an advertisement. It has a few seconds
to stand-out and be noticed. The reader is offering a few seconds,
seeking specific information, and the resumé must deliver. So the
real key is to put on the resumé what the reader wants to see, and put it
there so it stands out.
Target the Resumé Reader
The resumé reader is a staffing manager, perhaps the manager of
the department with the opening, or perhaps a designate; an employment
specialist (often an entry-level human resources position) or an employment
clerk (often a clerical position). The reader is seeking key words
that describe the best candidates for a particular position. Those
key words are the difference between first pass rejection and real
consideration. The key words are often specific to an industry,
position, training, applicable accomplishments, technology, or managerial
level.
Key words for technology positions include specific computer
programs, platforms or languages. Sometimes a particular university
is important, especially if specific research skills are necessary.
The top schools often get attention, even if they are noted because of
seminars and programs rather than degrees. Some companies are
considered good training and development firms, so employment at these
represents an advantage. Search firms track the alumni of P&G,
GE, HP, IBM and others. The resumé reader also knows the key
competitors. Hiring someone from a competitor brings industry
knowledge. Position titles and levels are also key, especially if
they carry P&L responsibility. Numbers of employees, budget
numbers, and generally any other numbers will stand out. Any
variations of words like savings, profit, earnings, improvements, up,
accomplishments, responsible, increased, etc., are important.
(Generally, variations of assist, coordinate, help, down, administration,
review, etc. will detract from the resumé.) The resumé writer must
empathize with the reader -- If you were scanning a stack of resumés, what
would you want to see?
One thing you would not want would be large blocks of type.
Take a quick look at the paragraph above. If it were in a resumé, it
would be too long. That is a simple statement but true -- regardless
of content, it’s just too long. Take another look and see if you can
find GE. It may be the only thing you noticed. The resumé
format is often as important as its content.
With resumés in computer databases, keywords become important.
Remember to insert acronyms, titles, industry specific terms, technology
specific terms, associations and certifications, and other items that would
likely be keywords in a database search.
Resumé Formats
Libraries, bookstores, and even word processing programs have
examples of resumé formats. There are generally two: the reverse
chronological and the accomplishments format. The accomplishments
format is a waste of time. The only people who use it are those with
old accomplishments. It starts with a list of accomplishments,
usually in blocks of type, usually describing events in distant past
positions. On the second page, the writer hides a short block of
actual job titles with employers and dates. If your career
history has a list of unimpressive titles and firms, and no outstanding
accomplishments for the past few years, or if you need to hide something,
this is the format to use. However, know that every experienced
resumé reader knows, and does not have the time to read any contrary
evidence. The accomplishments resumé format is the quickest way to
the reject pile, regardless of your qualifications.
Obviously, this writer prefers the reverse chronological
format. Show the reader what you have to sell. If you are a
recent graduate, or you have an impressive academic record, put it near the
top of the first page. If your experience is key, it should come
before your education.
The presentation of jobs is important. This writer
prefers to see a little information describing the employer in addition to
a brief but well-written position description. Here is an example of
a single position entry:
5/92 to
Present
Nomis Corporation
Director of Human Resources
New York City
Nomis Corp. is a $500 million, manufacturer of sundries and
toiletries, marketing worldwide, with plants in NYC and Baltimore,
employing 450 people. It is best know for the CLEANS brand.
Responsible for this and that, improved other things, manage lots
of employees, developed programs that saved lots of $$$$.
Reports to the President.
• Accomplished a lot with this
accomplishment
• Accomplished even more this time
Note that the reader is presented with some immediate, key word
information: Director of Human Resources sets the level, stands out (both
bold and underlined) and reports to the President. The company size
and scope are apparent. If the brand is well known, it becomes part of the
candidate’s memorable qualifications (e.g., that HR director from
CLEANS.) The applicable accomplishments are presented immediately,
with the position. The most recent position gets the most space
unless there is another position that better reflects the writer’s skills,
in which case it gets the most space. Positions at the beginning of
your career get the least space. Generally, the employer wants your
most recent experience and accomplishments.
Remember to note associations, awards, and other
credentials. Anything that requires certification should be noted,
partly because the open position may require it and partly because it shows
enhanced professionalism.
Personal Information
There is always a question about summaries, objectives, and
personal information on resumés. Generally, they are not necessary
unless they show leadership skills not apparent in the experience, or they
need to tell of something contrary to the experience. For example, if
the above Director of Human Resources wants to change careers, to become a
sales executive, an objective statement would be absolutely
necessary. Also, if the writer had particular interests, or outside
obligations, a note in the personal information is appropriate.
Imagine the resumés of the Olympic athletes who also have careers.
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Sometimes personal information may be illegal for the employer to
ask but helpful to the candidacy. Minority status, or any protected
class, should be apparent on the resumé, often presented in the awards,
associations, or accomplishments. (Often, employers will discriminate in
favor of a protected class, especially with professional positions, in
order to satisfy EEOC concerns.) The resumé offers some poetic
license, not offered elsewhere in the employment process. An interest
in golf may be desirable with some employers.
Summaries are often just filler material -- OK but difficult to
scan and otherwise obvious in the experience record.
Objectives and Negative Absurdity Test
Objectives must adhere to the negative absurdity test: If the
statement, reversed to a negative, is absurd in context, it is not
necessary. Unnecessary statements just take up space.
Example One: Seeking a position as a plumber is a good
objective because it passes the test. Reversing it to a negative
would be: Not seeking a position as a plumber. This is not absurd:
Most people have no interest in being a plumber.
Example Two: Seeking a good position with a company that will
utilize my skills and provide growth potential. Sounds OK until
reversed to: Seeking a bad position with a company that will not utilize my
skills and provides no growth potential -- absolute nonsense.
Therefore, example two is not necessary. It does not add to the
resumé, it does not differentiate the writer, it says what is obvious to
everyone and therefore is only taking up space.
Final Note on Formats
Most published formats serve the purpose well. All tell of
centering the name and contact information at the top. All suggest
brevity -- resumés should be 1.75 pages long. All tell of artwork --
short paragraphs, white space, attractive presentations. Transmittal
letters should be personalized but resumés should be written to appeal to
certain positions using appropriate key words, etc.
This may seem obvious, but always ask someone to proofread your
resumé in addition to the computer spell-check, etc. The frequency of
misspellings, wrong words (there/their) and obvious errors is amazing.
Resumés with errors are rejected.
You can present your resumé is several ways, notably on paper via
postal mail and electronically, via email. The trends favor
electronic submission.
If you intend to use paper and the postal mail, you need to
prepare a transmittal letter to accompany the resumé. Address the
letter to someone in charge – either the firm’s President, or the
individual named in the want ad. If you send the resumé to the
President, it is likely that the Executive Secretary will simply direct it
to the VP-HR, who will simply direct it to the Employment Specialist –
however, that Employment Specialist must take note of your resumé because
it is possible that one of those superiors actually read it, and may ask
about it. If you are applying for an executive level position, always
direct your resumé to the top.
The transmittal letter is simply an individualized social
convention that allows you to introduce yourself to a specific person and
company, briefly mention why you have an interest in the firm, briefly
mention how you can be of service to the firm, and close by asking for an
interview.
Electronic submission, typically via email, requires a little more
care. The best presentation starts with a brief transmittal in the
body of the email – essentially a copy of your paper transmittal
letter. Then, present your resumé in the body of the email, and
also attach your resumé as a Word document. The logic for
providing both: Companies that receive emailed resumés usually direct them
to databases for keyword retrieval, response, statistics, etc. Their
virus protection programs may strip the attachment. The email body copy
does not allow for creative spacing, fonts, centering, etc. so it obviously
does not present you in the best possible way. By presenting yourself
twice, you are assured of having at least one of your resumés read.
Both the email copy and the Word file need to be ”scannable”,
which means that you should stick to regular fonts, type styles, and
spacing. Avoid lots of lines or boxes, shading, italics, etc.
Strange type styles often confuse the character recognition programs,
resulting in humorous but unproductive errors. Use Microsoft Word
simply because every system can receive a Word file.
Remember that your email address can say a lot about you.
Always send your resumé from a personal account with a professional
address. Accounts with AOL, hotmail, MSN, etc.
are all acceptable. Avoid using your company email and avoid using a
fanciful user-name.
Interactive
resumé
An interactive resumé is a small program that presents the
candidate using interactive multimedia. It is presented either on a
CD, or as an Internet website. Photographs, video, sound and
graphical representations of the candidate’s work are presented.
Homepages are common, and are typically just longer versions of
the paper resumé, with the addition of color, sound, and pictures.
Many homepages contain personal information that is inappropriate in the
context of a resumé. When preparing such a page, be mindful of your
objective. When presenting a homepage in the employment process, you
expose the entire page to assessment - keep it professional.
The resumé is a Marketing Tool
Remember that the resumé is a marketing tool. When
appropriate MAKE IT STAND OUT; not a masters degree in business
administration -- an MBA. Put some space around
it. Use your marketing instincts.
Take a look at some junk mail, like those annoying
contest/promotional mailers. Note the use of capital letters, short
paragraphs, action words. The junk mail has the same problem as your
resumé -- it has only a few seconds to get the reader’s attention.
Take a marketing lesson from the junk mail marketers.
Always have a resumé printed on high quality paper with high
quality printing. Even if you have emailed a resumé, you should be prepared
to present a professional copy at the interview. The printed resumé will
have that professional look even if it has to be faxed several times.
Avoid non-professional things like strange colors, goofy statements, or
lectures. Avoid tricks like trying to hide your age by not
giving dates or using only years of employment to hide gaps.
Be careful to avoid misinformation, intentional or accidental.
Misinformation has a way of coming back to haunt you. Be clear and
accurate.
The resumé is a necessary tool in the employment process.
Everybody has one, and every want ad produces a bevy of them. The
resumé exists to represent the writer, and to get the interview. It
is a marketing tool that must be written to compete, to differentiate the
writer, to stand-out and tell its story quickly and effectively. When
written to appeal to the reader, it can be a powerful and successful
marketing tool.
About the Author
Robert A. Simon is the Managing Director and Founder of Talent Acquisition Services, an Internet based employment service. His experiences
include work with search firms (TMP Worldwide, Korn/Ferry International and
Deane, Howard & Simon, Inc.) and as a Staffing Manager (Rogers Corp.
and The Stanley Works). This article was written for distribution on
the Internet through the Talent Acquisition Services home
page.
http://www.nmstaffing.com
Comments are welcome. Please contact: bob@nmstaffing.com
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