Rev Up Your Resume : Jump Start Your Career
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Transcript of Rev Up Your Resume : Jump Start Your Career
1st Impression to Employer
� Sub Goal — To Have It Read
� Main Goal — To Land an INTERVIEW!
Tip: Vagueness and modesty
aren’t effective approaches
Make It Lasting
Before We Start
LIES
misspellings
punctuation
syntax errors
TYPOS
Reality Check on Hiring Managers
� Review resumes in
5-10 seconds each
� Receive 50-500
others
Tip: Distinguish your value
proposition effectively,
concisely, dynamically
Types of Resumes
Tip: Skip to slide 28 for different
strategies.
Chronology
HybridFunction
Reverse Career
History
(Boring)
Skill Sets
(Loathed)
Combination
(Preferred!)
Resume Sections
� Heading
� Job Title / Profile
� Core Competencies
� Career Highlights
� Work History
� Education
� Distinctions
Focus on Your Future
� Job are you targeting?
� Corporate culture and size fits
you best?
� Skills do you offer—soft and hard?
� Experience relates specifically to
this job?
� Professional language is spoken—
buzzwords & acronyms?
What …
Grab ‘Em Above the Fold
Role Play Before Writing
� Can (your name) achieve job’s deliverables?
� Will (your name) solve our problems?
� Why is (your name) better than the others?
Pretend You’re Hiring Manager
Discover Your Value
� Start with blank sheet or Word document
� Develop success stories for each job
� Brainstorm about your accomplishments
� Open up your creativity !
Tip: Read past performance evaluations
How Did You Help Employer …
� Make / Save money
� Save time
� Create efficient
process
� Solve specific problem
� Reduce / Grow staff
� Beat a deadline
� Expand business
� Attract new
customers
� Increase market
penetration
� Develop, market
or sell new product
or service
Avoid Generalizations
� High impact
ACHIEVEMENTS
NOT responsibilities
� Specifics—figures,
percentages,
dollar amounts
Which is More Impressive ?
Responsible for increasing recoveries.
Grew recoveries from 2% to 14%,
resulting in $15M increase by creating
3rd party recognition templates.
Action Verbs Show Impact
Achieve
Analyze
Assist
Author
Bridge
Build
Code
Conceptualize
Configure
Consolidate
Create
Design
Develop
Edit
Eliminate
Finalize
Guide
Head
Hire
Evaluate
Implement
Increase
Initiate
Instruct
Lead
Lecture
Litigate
Manage
Maximize
Mediate
Mentor
Model
Modernize
Motivate
Negotiate
Operate
Optimize
Organize
Oversee
Perform
Partner
Plan
Prepare
Procure
Promote
Quantify
Raise
Re-engineer
Regulate
Research
Secure
Serve
Solve
Spearhead
Streamline
Supervise
Train
Translate
Update
Write
Now Throw Some Out
What to …
It’s your future job –
not everything you did is relevant
� Feature
� Downplay
� Toss out
Format is Everything
� Ample white space
� Modern fonts
Arial, Helvetica, Calibri
� Traditional fonts
Times, CenturyCenturyCenturyCentury, Palatino
� Font size 11 or 12 points
� Usual techniques
Bold, italics,
ALL CAPITALS
� Simple lines
� But minimize use
No Denseness / Clutter
Let’s Get Started !
SUZANNE “SUE” WILLIAMS, J.D.
Heading
555.234.5721
linkedin.com/in/suewilliams
555 Hire Me Lane
Wilmet, AZ 55123
Tips: Include everyday name
Use professional e-mail
Title & Profile
Operations Director
12 years’ success in enterprise software industry:
re-engineer international business operations,
increase workers’ efficiencies, develop technology
standards, and reduce capital / payroll expenses.
Awarded “Most Valuable Employee” out of 300.
Skills & Expertise
� Marketing Management
� Social Media / SMO
� New Product Launch
� Competitor Analysis
� Strategic Planning
� Branding
� Product Pricing
� SEO
Tip: Read job listings & LinkedIn
profiles for ideas
Vouch for a Skill
� Include a testimonial from a superior
� Refer to performance evaluation or
recommendation letter
“ We almost lost our 2nd largest customer. Dan
was onsite until 11 that night to bring their
server back up. That’s dedication! “
Mark Brennan, CIO
Hitachi Corp.
Career Achievements
� Showcase what could otherwise be
at bottom of page 2
� Illustrate successes
� List 3-4 career highlights related to
position sought
Leadership Achievements
� Membership Growth: 5-32% increase annually for multiple
associations, even in times of contracting business climates.
Expanded member reach to Europe and Middle East for
the US Chamber of Commerce.
� Foundation Director: Created Business Information
Analysis Center for the Chamber and secured federal
grants for core operations funding. Grew to $650,000
budget in 2 years.
From the Exercise
Reverse Work HistoryAchievements from Exercise
Software Engineer 2007-present
General Dynamics, Fairfax, VA
CAREER EXPERIENCE
� Create code for 1st ever SMS feature and support product,
network and release testing.
� Design / code phases for wiretap and virtual circuits feature
development.
� Exceed goals 20% for customer site testing and FAO (First Office
Application) support for EMX releases.
� 92% survey rating as instructor at technical workshops for
internal / customer knowledge sharing and functional areas.
Not Entire Career
� 10-15 years only is expected
� Previous positions only if relevant
20-year Government Affairs Director who
began career as a …
� Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill.
Data Entry Assistant for a medical office.
EducationDegrees in Reverse Order
EDUCATION
MA, Elementary Education • University of South Carolina, 2004
BA, Education • College of Charleston, SC, 2002
Tip: Move to the top if …
- A recent grad
- Graduate degree is preferred in job listing
- In medicine, science, higher education, politics
You’re Not “Average Joe”
LICENSURE & CERTIFICATIONS
Registered Nurse, Virginia State License, 2006
CPR, American Heart Association
Certified Nursing Assistant, Virginia Registry, 2003
AWARDS
Most Outstanding Employee, General Electric – 2010
Safe Worker, Hybrid Warehouses – 2005-2008
Volunteer / Memberships
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Chairperson, Institute of Internal Auditors
Committee Member, National Compliance Professionals Association
Tip: Move to the top if …
License, certification, award, military / government
service, Fortune 500 companies are preferred for job
Strategies for Career Obstacles
� TELL employers situation to avoid their
making wrong assumptions
� Many won’t contact you for answers
Need 1st Paid Gig ?
� Internships—paid & non
� Clinical & lab projects
� Specific upper level courses
� Volunteer activities
� Memberships
List Relevant Experience
Returning to a Profession ?
� Use leadership / career achievements
section
� Success stories specific to desired
profession
� Minimize / delete unrelated bullets
on latest jobs
Hopped Around after Steady Jobs ?
� List companies with longevity and
years at top of resume
� Remember—reviewer won’t read
page 2 to see this
10 years Executive Assistant at SAIC &
5 years Office Manager at British Aerospace
Changing Profession ?
� All relevant work, certifications,
internships, volunteering above the fold
� In work history, focus on only applicable
achievements and skills
� Minimize bullets that don’t apply
Tip: Classes, certifications or internships
assure employer you’re serious about
a career change
Went Back to School ?
� In chronological experience, list your
degree, school and years
� Fill in gap to avoid employer’s
assumption
� Or put near top
Let Go from Job Not Performance Related ?
� Congressman replaced by opposing party
� Company downsized due to client reduction
� New CEO brought in his executive team
� Contract not renewed by DOE
State the Reason
Left Workforce Altogether ?
� Sabbatical to volunteer at Sahabi
Orphanage in Kenya
� Walked across America, then published
book on experience with host families
� Assisted terminally ill parent
Be Honest
Tip: Include work if you can to minimize gap
Seeking Lower Position ?
� Dumb down responsibilities
� Focus profile & skills on those needed
� Remove advanced degrees—Master, JD, PhD
If seeking straight sales position, don’t
state you were Director over staff of 20
Over 50?
� List about 15 years of employment—
even if with 1 employer for longer
� After create “Prior Experience”
list only positions & employers—
no responsibilities, NO DATES
� Education—NO DATES
Survive Electronic Black Hole
� MUST use title & key words in job posting
� Use .txt file extension, unformatted ASCII
� Choose sans serif font
� Left justify all text
� Strip formatting — no bullets, tabs, tables,
text boxes, page breaks, page numbers
� No bold, italics, underlines
Used by Larger Companies
Tip: Use symbols to replace bullets•••• ���� ∼∼∼∼
or create lines — — — — —
E-mailing Resume
� Follow ad’s instructions
� Word preferred over pdf (if not .txt)
� Name resume “FullName_Resume.doc”
Helps employer file & find it
� In subject line, your name & job title
� In body, paste resume
� Attach resume & cover letter
Wanna Impress ‘Em ?
� Make different resumes specific to postions
or industries seeking
� Take a few minutes to customize each sent
� Focus cover letter on position
� Include matrix of job requirements matched
to your successes
Rebecca Page