Copyright © 2000 by Kevin
Donlin
About 150 years ago, Henry David Thoreau had two things to
say that can help you write a better resume today. They are: "Simplify!
Simplify!"
You've heard many times that you have only 15-30 seconds to
impress readers of your resume. So, the simpler and easier-to-read
you can make it, the better.
Here are three ways to do just that.
1. Begin with clarity.
I'm always amazed by the number of resumes that begin with no objective
or summary statement. As a result, the employer is forced to start
reading without knowing what the applicant can do.
Many resumes begin by listing education, for example. But
even if your degree is in high demand, such as computer science,
you're still leaving room for misinterpretation (Does this
person want a job in network administration? Telephone support?
Internal help desk?)
Instead, try opening with an objective such as this: "Position
in network administration where my computer science degree
and technical skills will add value."
If you want to be more flexible about the job you're after,
you can say: "Position where my computer science degree,
troubleshooting skills and customer service experience will
add value."
2. Group information logically.
Hurried readers want to quickly scan through your resume. You can
help them by breaking things down into logical groupings. Don't
jumble things together, as in this example:
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Windows NT 4.0 Server, MS Exchange,
DOS, Windows 95/98, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, MS Outlook.
Break longer lists into smaller bits and give them a clear
heading, like this:
COMPUTER SKILLS
* Operating Systems - Windows NT 4.0 (Workstation and Server), Windows
95/98 and DOS.
* Applications - Microsoft Exchange, Word, Excel, Access and Outlook.
3. Focus on results.
To make it easier for your reader to picture you achieving results
on the job for him/her, clearly show how you've done it for others.
Be as specific as possible.
Avoid dry language, like this:
* Responsible for maintaining accurate inventory, acquisition and
delivery of supplies.
Try saying this, instead:
* Vastly improved customer service while cutting costs 24% by accurately
managing inventory, acquisitions and deliveries.
Simple is good. When you begin your resume with clarity, group
your information logically and focus on results, you'll enjoy
a simply wonderful job search.
Top
10-Minute
Résumé Makeover
Copyright © 2000
by Kevin Donlin
I'd like to tell you about a fast, easy way to make
a dramatic improvement in your résumé. It's
this: Ask a trusted friend to read it.
Sound obvious? If it were, I wouldn't see misspellings
and grammatical errors in the dozens of résumés people
send me every week. These are written by literate people,
just like you and me. But most folks are simply too
involved with the story of their résumés to accurately
judge the contents. They miss the forest for the trees,
as it were. They fail to see mistakes in spelling or
grammar that are obvious to someone else reading their
résumé for the first time. Which can cause the phone
to NOT ring for a very long time…
That's why it's crucial to get a second opinion from
someone you trust.
When your friend is reading your résumé, ask him or
her to check these areas: the accuracy of commas, periods
and hyphens; spacing between words; spelling of words;
and the overall meaning of the document.
A spell checker won't spot the difference between there, their and they're, but
your reader will! So ask your friend to circle every
word that isn't 100% clear. This will help you produce
a résumé that's 100% accurate!
There are other areas, but these are where most mistakes
occur. Best of luck to you!
Top
|
5
Résumé Mistakes
That Can Kill Your Career
Copyright © 1999
by Kevin Donlin
As a professional résumé writer with 11
years of writing, hiring and managing experience,
I've seen the same mistakes time and again
in résumés.
Mistakes in your résumé can damage or even
kill your career. Because a sub-standard
résumé can prevent you from ever being called
for a job interview.
But don't worry! If your résumé isn't 100%
perfect, you're not alone. And help is just
below, in this article.
Here are the five mistakes that ruin most
résumés (and what you can do to prevent them).
Mistake #1: No objective or summary.
By not describing what job or field you want to work in,
you start your résumé off on the wrong foot. Why? You force
the employer to read it all the way through to figure out
what kind of job you're suited for. You create more work
for your busy reader. This is the last thing you want to
do!
If you know the exact job title you're applying
for, say so! Start the résumé like this:
OBJECTIVE
Marketing Manager, where 10 years of sales, marketing and
management experience will add value to operations.
What if you don't know the job title? Start
your résumé like this:
SUMMARY
Seeking a position where 10 years of sales, marketing and
management experience will add value to operations.
By starting your résumé with a clear objective
or a focused summary, you tell the reader
exactly what you want to do for him or her.
This establishes a rapport and sets the stage
for the résumé. Which will greatly improve
your results.
Mistake #2: Focusing on you and your
needs.
This is the worst mistake you can make. Unfortunately, it's
also the most common.
Look, no employer wants to hire you. Employers
hate hiring! They only hire employees when
they have problems to solve. And no employer
wants to spend a lot of time hiring you,
either, just as you wouldn't want to spend
more time in a dentist's chair than you had
to.
So, your résumé must quickly answer the
one question that's on every employer's mind: "What
can you do for me?"
Unfortunately, most résumés don't.
Most résumés start out like this: "Seeking
a position where I can utilize my skills
in an atmosphere with potential for career
advancement ..." And so on. This sounds
fine and logical to the person writing the
résumé. But it completely alienates the person
READING the résumé. Because this person --
your potential employer -- has his own problems.
He could care less about your career aspirations
or desire to make more money.
Instead, tell the employer how you can add
value to his/her operations, or contribute
to efficiency. Notice this opening summary
again:
SUMMARY
Seeking a position where 10 years of sales, marketing and
management experience will add value to operations.
Now, what employer wouldn't want to talk
to someone like you, who's offered to add
value to his operations? You could also say: "...
will contribute to operations" or "...
will add to profitability." The exact
words don't matter. What does matter is your
focus on helping the employer meet his goals.
If you do that, your career will advance
and you'll make more money.
Mistake #3: Focusing on responsibilities
instead of results. While it's important
to tell the reader what you've done at
each job, it's far more important to spend
most of your time talking about what you
accomplished and how you made yourself
valuable to past employers.
It's easy to do. Just think back on your
daily duties. What good things happened when
you did your job well? Write them down! Focus
on results. The more specific, the better!
Instead of saying this: "Responsibilities
included (but were not limited to) implementation
of policies and procedures, training of new
employees, interfacing with subordinates
and vendors, and light correspondence duties."
Say this: "Worked with staff and vendors
to increase product turnover by 15% and sales
by 23% in five months. Also trained 14 new
employees, five of whom were rapidly promoted."
Mistake #4: Too many big words. It's
a shame how often a good résumé is ruined
when the author utilizes a superabundance
of polysyllabic terminology, or uses too
many big words.
Don't hide behind your vocabulary. When
your résumé is not clear and to the point,
the reader gets bored, time is wasted and
your résumé goes in the trash.
Simplify! Write as if you were talking to
a class of sixth grade students. That's the
reading level all journalists are trained
to appeal to in their writing. If it works
for America's newspapers, it ought to work
for you.
Instead of saying "implemented," try "adopted" or "set
up," for example.
Never "utilize" what you can simply "use."
Don't "interface" with people; "work" with
them.
And never use "impact" as a verb.
(Meteorites hitting the moon are about the
only thing that should "impact.")
Try "affect" instead.
Mistake #5: Spelling/punctuation errors. Your
spell-checker is not enough! You must read
through the résumé once for accuracy (numbers,
dates, city names, etc.), once for missing/extra
words, and once more for spelling.
Then, show your résumé to several friends
and ask them to read it out loud. Listen
to where they pause; this could mean you've
written something confusing or inaccurate.
After you get their feedback, revise the
résumé so that it's 100% error-free.
Top
|
Career
Change
Résumés & Cover Letters
Copyright © 2000
by Kevin Donlin
Career changes are common today. And challenging.
If you're like most people trying to switch careers,
you've had a hard time writing an effective résumé and
cover letter. Because to do so, you have to prove you
have the skills and/or experience to do a job that's
very different from what you've done before.
Here's how to make that career switch by writing a
résumé and cover letter that get results.
1. Consider taking a half-step toward a new career.
Let's say you're an administrative assistant ... who wants
to be a lion tamer. You can certainly try to move right
into lion taming and write a résumé that emphasizes those
skills.
But another way would be to get a job as an administrative
assistant at a company employing lion tamers. Once
inside, you can try for an internal promotion to lion
taming after you've had a chance to learn from those
on staff.
2. Avoid functional résumés.
The functional résumé, which usually lists "skills" or "areas
of expertise," followed by a sparse career history,
is the kiss of death.
Why?
It's used by job seekers to hide something in their
past, which is a red flag for most hiring managers.
So, what résumé format works best?
3. Try a hybrid format.
Write a résumé that mixes relevant skills, achievements and
experience, with your most valuable points near the beginning.
You could lead with a tailored objective, like this:
OBJECTIVE "Position in lion taming where skills
in communication and a strong knowledge of animal control
will add value."
Then, follow with a PROFILE section, where you define
and develop the 2-4 skills or areas of expertise you
offer. These can come from anywhere in your career
-- a degree you completed last month or a hobby that
makes you an expert.
If room allows, follow with a SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS
section, where you can include 2-4 bullet points describing
the best things you've done related your target job.
You can include achievements from paid or volunteer
work, hobbies or education.
Then follow with your EDUCATION/TRAINING or EXPERIENCE
section, depending on which is more relevant to your
new career.
Be sure to include dates, explain any gaps and write
in language that fits your next job.
4. Use your cover letter to really state your case.
If you show enthusiasm in your cover letter and make it easy
for the reader to see that you have the potential to succeed
in a new career, your chances of doing so are much improved!
Taken together, a résumé that makes it easy for employers
to see your relevant skills, combined with a hard-hitting
cover letter, can help make your career change a success.
Best of luck to you!
Top
|
How
to Make and Use
a Scannable Résumé
Copyright © 1999
by Kevin Donlin
If you've been reading the classified ads
in the Sunday paper lately, you've probably
seen this phrase: "Send scannable résumé and
cover letter to ...."
What's a scannable résumé, you ask?
Today, approximately 50% of larger companies
use optical character recognition (OCR) software
to scan résumés into computerized databases.
Once scanned in, hiring managers and HR people
search through these résumés for keywords
to match applicants with jobs.
So, in many cases, a computer will see your
résumé before a human does.
What does this mean for you? It means you
need to make and send a scannable résumé when
applying to large corporations. This article
will show you how.
First, create your scannable résumé.
Start by changing the typeface in your résumé to
a sans serif font, such as Arial, for more
accurate reading by the scanning computer.
(Serif fonts, such as Times Roman, may not
scan as clearly.) Use a single typeface throughout
and a single font size. I recommend 10 or
11 point type.
Next, eliminate all underlining, bolding
and italics, which make your résumé harder
to scan and read.
After that, create a targeted keyword section
to match your career goals. Keywords are
the nouns an employer uses when looking through
the database of scanned résumés for candidates
like you. If your scannable résumé is rich
in matching keywords, it's more likely that
your résumé will pop up in the search ...
and you'll be called for an interview.
Try to think like the employer and anticipate
the keywords they'll search for. Then put
those keywords in your résumé. Example: a
company looking to hire a C++ programmer
will look for evidence of programming skills
and education. The following keywords should
go in your scannable résumé (if they apply
to you): C, C++, BS: Computer Science, program,
programming, programmer, code, coding, software
development, software developer.
Put your keyword section near the top of
your résumé, right after your opening objective
or summary statement.
Print your scannable résumé on plain white
paper for best results. Save the fancy stationery
for your standard résumé.
Congratulations! You now have a scannable
résumé, ready to go. But how do you submit
it to employers?
Here are two tricks that will improve your
results.
I recommend to all my clients that they
send BOTH a scannable résumé and a traditional
résumé (the one with an eye-pleasing layout,
printed on high-grade business stationery).
When you send both types of résumés, you
prove your understanding of technology by
providing one résumé for people to read,
and one for the computers. You make the employer's
job a lot easier, which can go a long way
toward producing a job for you!
Second, as an added touch, put a sticky
note on your scannable résumé to identify
it. Simply writing "Scannable Résumé" on
your note should do it.
That's it. There's really no big mystery
about creating a scannable résumé. But you
do have to choose your keywords wisely. I've
been writing scannable résumés since 1996,
and my clients have enjoyed tremendous success
using them. I wish you the same success in
your job search!
Top
|
|
