Your résumé is the tool that you use to market your skills and experience as a potential employee to prospective employers and recruiters. It is a personal statement of your education and experience, as well as your career direction for the future. It has only one purpose: to get you in front of a hiring manager, and with that in mind, it should highlight your relevant qualifications and accomplishments as they relate to the employer’s current needs; it should leave its reader saying, “Let’s get this person in here!”
As with any other written communication, it is also a reflection of you as a person, so neatness, consistency and spelling do count. So does grammar, punctuation and proper word usage if you want it to have a positive affect… or is that effect? Oh, well; let’s just say if you want it to have a positive impact. If you are a professional, your résumé should do exactly that.
Typically, there are three people who will be looking at the résumés you submit. Recruiters. HR people. And hiring managers. So before we go into the best ways to construct your résumé, let’s try to understand your readers a little better.
Recruiters. Some of us make full-time, permanent placements; some of us place temps or contract workers, or temp-to-perm; some of us work for executive search firms who specialize in an industry or discipline and others are generalist. We work for large firms, small boutique firms or out of our home offices with our dogs barking in the background. We may be engaged by our clients on a retainer, or we may be contingency recruiters. We’ve been called head hunters, body snatchers, and meat merchants. But we all have one thing in common. If we don’t provide our clients with top-notch candidates, we don’t eat. As most of us are to some degree computer literate, we typically get résumés through email, a job board such as Monster.com or Careerbuilders.com, or through submission to our own Websites. That means our first impression of you is frequently electronic.
HR people. These are the folks who work for the companies to which either you or your recruiters will be submitting your résumé. In most cases, they will also be looking at your résumé for the first time through some form of e-submission. Unlike recruiters, they will eat whether you get hired or not. So, among a myriad of other responsibilities, one of their key functions is to screen the résumés they receive to make sure you are qualified enough to speak to a hiring manager – or be moved into the hiring process. These people know what they are looking for when they review your résumé. If it’s not there, the likelihood is that you will never hear from them, or, at best, you may receive an acknowledgment that your résumé has been logged in and will be retained for future reference.
Hiring managers. They are the women and men that run their departments on a daily basis and know the kind of people they are looking for. They are the people you want to be in front of. They are the people that get to see your résumé AFTER the HR people. Unfortunately, if your résumé does not get past the HR group, they are the people you will not meet.
Since résumés are often first read electronically, many candidates have been taking advantage of using hyperlinks to direct readers to their Websites or blogs. That’s okay, but don’t overdo using links, be careful that they do not lead a reader to where you do not want them to go, and don’t forget, that some of the readers may still be computer neophytes; they will print your résumé and never see what it was you wanted them to see. One usage of hyperlinks might be to link your employers’ names to their respective Websites. If you choose to do that, keep in mind that consistency is important; link ALL of your current and former employers’ Websites to your résumé, assuming that they have them.
You can also use a hyperlink in your name to generate a return email.
DO:
- Be sure to have all of your contact information on your résumé. (Now this may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people eliminate their candidacy this way.) This would include your home address, home phone, cell phone and email address. (Your work phone number is optional and not always a good idea.)
- Use bullet points to highlight a series of related items in a readable and attention-getting format.
- Be clear and use simple language and keep your sentences short. The exception to the rule of good grammar is that it is okay to use (but not abuse) fragmented sentences.
- Begin your résumé with a concise summary of your general experience, skills and key accomplishments to hook your reader. This can be either a one- or two-line statement or a short series of bullet-points.
- Objective lines are okay, but they must be clear, concise, fresh (as in not trite or overused), and tailored to the specific job for which you are applying.
- Try to limit your résumé to no more than two pages, but not at the expense of it being cluttered. It should have a readable font, be well spaced, and have at least three-quarter-inch side margins.
- Identify broad sets of skills (interpersonal or people skills, communications skills, management and organizational skills, leadership or training skills, negotiations, design or planning skills) and then support your skills with experience.
- Start sentences whenever possible with action verbs (i.e. “ran,” “managed,” “developed,” “led,” etc. as opposed to “was responsible for,” “oversaw,” or “handled.”) Besides being more concise, it shows you as an active rather than a passive attitude.
- List accomplishments whenever possible rather than just describing duties. Quantify your accomplishments whenever possible, citing figures that demonstrate progress due directly to your work. Your accomplishments will speak far more of the value you can add than will your responsibilities. If possible and applicable, try to list one or more very specific achievements for each of your current and former employers. Make sure your accomplishments say, “This is what I can bring to your table.”
To exemplify this, compare these statements:
Served as Branch Manager for over two years? or
As Branch Manager, led district by increasing portfolio by over 200% in two years.
Responsibilities included budget management? or
Established budget controls resulting in only 10% increase in expenses during a 30% growth in revenues period.
- Emphasize your adaptability and capability of learning new tasks.
- List your jobs in reverse chronological order (current to most past). Be sure to identify the company, your starting and ending dates of employment and your ending title. If you’ve had long term jobs with multiple positions of increasing responsibility, show each relevant position and its timeframe.
- Organize your education in reverse chronological order. If you have significant but incomplete higher education, state it but make sure you do not lead a reader to believe you have that degree.
- Include professional training you’ve received over your career including training programs, seminars and workshops you’ve attended. Be sure to identify professional awards and certifications.
- If it pertains to your goal (which is landing a new position) add a section for professional affiliations and community involvement.
- Be factual. Misstatements can be cause for dismissal.
- Proofread your résumé; proofread your résumé; and proofread it again. Then have someone else proffered… I mean proofread it. (That will NOT show up in Spell-check,) Then ask yourself, “Would I want to interview this person?”
DO NOT
- Sell yourself short. If you accomplished something, say so. You are your own best advocate, so don’t hold back or try to modest. Be proud of what you’ve done.
- Make your résumé a bio-epic of your life (unless you're applying for a job as a hypnotist).
- Try to impress readers with buzzwords or meaningless jargon.
- Don’t emphasize your high school or earlier education.
- Give irrelevant information including salaries or reasons for leaving.
- Divulge personal information including marital status, health, citizenship, age, children or religion and especially your social security number.
- Provide references or add the phrase that references will be provided upon request. (That’s a given.)
- Use pronouns, particularly first person (I, me, my, our, we, us, our).
- Waste space with introductory phrases such as “My duties included” or “I was responsible for.”
- Or with meaningless adjectives and adverbs such as “extremely” or “very” or “exciting.”
- Or trite expressions ala “…ability to get along with others,” or “…a good working knowledge of…” and especially, “excellent people/communications/interpersonal (etc., take your pick) skills.
- Use fancy or unusual font types or styling including underlines, italics, shading and graphics (photos of your self or company logos). It might appear pretentious, and it may prevent optical recognition by various computer programs.
- Waste your money on so-called “professional” résumé services who offer you a choice of parchment of onionskin paper in 30 shades.
THE CHRONOLOGICAL RÉSUMÉ is probably the most common format. It focuses on your job history in reverse (most recent first) order and provides an easy to read snapshot of your experience. Employers like this format because it is easy to quickly see the time you’ve spent at each company, in each position and the general direction in which your career has moved. Placing your current employment first also shows what your are doing and achieving today – right now – at this point in your career. As a result, you should weigh the information you provide about each of your positions to give the most space to what you are dong now, not what you did five, ten or 20 years ago.
This format works best when:- You want to highlight your experience in a specific career field;
- When your most relevant experience is where you are currently (or were most recently); and
- When you have demonstrated reasonable stability with each of your employers.
- You are looking to change or get back to a former career and your most recent experience is not relevant or has little bearing on your preferred field;
- You are looking to start your career and have little if any job history;
- You have been with one company, and particularly in one position, for an extended time;
You’ve been (with or without good reason) forced to change jobs several times over your career or have a recent history of short term positions; or - You have large periods of unemployment (whether by choice or otherwise).
THE FUNCTIONAL RÉSUMÉ, as you might imagine, is named so because it is based on your skills and areas of expertise, your professional achievements and accomplishments and your qualifications in a specific field as opposed to the employers you’ve worked for or the jobs you’ve held. Generally it either omits or minimizes your work history. It highlights those attributes most likely to be of greatest interest to a potential employer and diverts the focus away from long periods of unemployment or a history of too many short term jobs.
This format works best when:
- You are seeking an entry-level position and your experience is limited to your education and extracurricular activities, part-time positions or internships.
- You are returning to the workforce after an extended absence and have little or no recent history to showcase.
- You are attempting to change fields or you are applying for a position for which your skills are highly suited but the companies for which you’ve worked bear little or no value.
- A chronological résumé would draw immediate negative attention to frequent job changes or too many short term positions. The disadvantage of using a functional résumé is singular, but very significant.
- It will be viewed with suspicion. Today’s employers are so tuned into what you’ve done recently, and for whom and how long, that any attempt to divert that attention will beg the question, “What is he trying to hide?”
THE COMBINATION RÉSUMÉ, aka the chrono-functional résumé (I mention this only in the unlikely event someone asks you to send them your chrono-functional résumé, you will know what they’re talking about) is, often an excellent format for all of the same reasons as the functional résumé: Gaps in employment, changing fields or minimizing attention to frequent job changes. It speaks immediately to your accomplishments and skills, and the attributes you bring with you, and although it minimizes your employment history, it does not pretend to hide anything. It’s singular disadvantage is that some employers or recruiters are conditioned to reading one type of résumé over another and will still require more historic information about you.
FAQS (Computer-speak for frequently asked (but not always well answered) questions.)
While I tried to give you a basis for formatting your résumé, no singular verse, nor chapter, nor book can address all of the issues dealing with its preparation. One reason for that is because it is your résumé and it speaks to you as a unique individual. Here are, however, a list of common questions and issues that you may find useful.
Q: What is the best way to organize my sections?
A: 1 Heading (name and contact information)
2 Objective (if necessary)
3 Summary (optional)
4 Experience (work history)
5 Education (move up if you are entry level)
6 Professional affiliations and designations
7 Other (specific computers skills, languages spoken, etc.)
Q: What if I’m using the combined format?
A: Move experience further down the list. It will require less room since you will be emphasizing your skills and accomplishments over your work history.
Q: Speaking of work history, should I show the months? Or just the years?A: I recommend showing the months, but either is okay as long as you are consistent. If you show the years, say 2001 to 2003 that could be as short as just over a year or as long as three full years. If you have a history of moving from one position to another, you might prefer showing only the years.
Also, if you’ve only been with one or a few companies, each for periods of seven or more years, than years is all that is necessary. (Yes, I used years as a singular noun.)
Q: Should I list my employer first? Or my title?
A: That would depend on which has greater relevance. If you held a key position with a relatively unknown company, than you will want to emphasize the title. On the other hand, if you were with a large, highly visible company whose name alone might enhance your credibility, they you might want to lead with it.
SR. VICE PRESIDENT, REGIONAL MANAGER September, 2003 to present
Little City Community Bank, Little City, CA
HSBC BANK, USA, New York, NY September, 2003 to present
Little Sr. Vice President, Regional Manager
Q: I don’t have a degree; what do I put under education?
A: Put the education that you do have above high school. For example, if you have two years toward a bachelors degree, but do not have an associates degree, list the college you attended and the years, then indicate your curriculum or coursework, particularly, if it is in your field.
Include industry-related training school.
List the OJT (on-the-job) training you’ve had, especially if it was part of a designed training program.
Industry and skill-development programs, seminars or workshops.
AND DO NOT STATE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT YOU ARE DEGREED IF YOU ARE NOT BECAUSE: A major lie like that may be cause for dismissal;
AND it is likely to follow you around; AND it may also prevent you from getting a position you’ve applied for previously if your résumés are compared.
Q: I play golf, enjoy fishing and read a lot; should I say that?
A: You definitely should if the position for which you are applying is golf pro, deckhand, or librarian. Otherwise, my general rule is no, with the exception being when you are applying for positions such as sales related or relationship development jobs that require that you demonstrate that you have certain extracurricular skills or attributes (social skills or competitive attitude) that were developed outside of work.
Q: I have one long period of unemployment when I took time to raise my family. What do I show?
A: Since you will have to explain this during your interview anyway, it would be easier to use a functional résumé and minimize the immediate attention you bring to this particular issue. Remember, the purpose of the résumé is to get you an interview. Another alternative is to leave that period unaccounted for, but address it in a cover letter.
Q: There are a few positions I’ve held that do not relate to the kind of job I’m looking for. How do I explain that?
A: Here is where the combination of functional and chronological résumés would come in very handy. It would allow you to emphasize the transferable skills you’ve developed and could also speak to your stability, even in a non-related field.
Q: I’ve been with one company for over 20 years. What do I do about job history?
A: If your experience with that company evolved through a variety of positions and levels of responsibility, divide your career into three or four related periods and treat them as though they were separate positions, listing them as you would with different companies, in reverse chronological order.
A second alternative is to use the combination format again, but this time put the company and your term of employment with them at the beginning of your résumé followed by your skills, achievements and attributes.
Q: I don’t have any achievements that I can really quantify. How do I sell myself?
A: You can’t. If you really believe that you have not accomplished anything, then you don’t have enough confidence in yourself to sell yourself. Go back to school and become a professional student or seek professional help. The fact of the matter is that you have accomplished whatever it took to get where you are. For some of us, that may have included awards; for others, perhaps, a quantifiable list of accomplishments such as having increased production or reduced losses; sometime’s we’ve done something to enhanced our firm’s public image, or assisted in a major rollout of a new product, or even found a reason to abort an activity.
Too many of us are so involved in our day-to-day tasks (as we should be if we want to get paid) that we fail to notice what we’ve learned along the way, or what skills we’ve acquired. Each time you pick up a phone or send an email, you are developing your communications skills, your interpersonal skills and perhaps your management skills. For every point you get across, you become a better salesperson or a stronger negotiator. If you stop and think about it, you’ve probably achieve a lot.
And don’t neglect, if nothing else, your personal accomplishments, though these are more difficult to state in the résumé and are usually best highlighted during your interview.
And finally, if you cannot think of anything that you believe is a significant accomplishment, ask others with whom you work just what it is that they feel you’ve contributed to the department, the team or the company. You might be pleasantly surprised at the answers.
Q: I was fired from one of my positions. What do I say?
A: Nothing – on your résumé that is. Do not include your reasons for having left any previous company, no matter how much you think that might enhance your value. You will be asked about that in the interview and it takes away space from what is relevant – your ability to do the job.Q: I have experience in both operations and sales; should I show them both?
A: Yes, but not necessarily with the same emphasis on the same résumé. If the position you are applying for is in sales, lead with your sales experience and mention your other qualities. If your goal is to be on the operations side, then vice-versa. If your goal is only to get a job in either area, then have two different résumés ready to present based on the position you are seeking.
Q: I have the right experience for the job, but with a much smaller company. Should I mention its size?
A: Mention it only if it is germane. Again, this would be an appropriate time to use the combination résumé format. If your titles, responsibilities and accomplishments support your contention that you can do the required job, but you have not been with any highly visible companies in the past, or even with companies whose revenues are within the ballpark of the one you are looking at, then you will want to structure your résumé to de-emphasize the companies you’ve worked at, and put the value you add in the reader’s face with skills, accomplishments and attributes.
Q: I took a step back in my career with a lower title to work with a larger company that offered more long term growth. Do I point that out on my résumé?
A: Yes. This is a case in which you will likely want to highlight your employers and downplay your titles. Depending on the move you made, how long ago or recent it was, and how it directly furthered your career, you can provide information on your growth since then, making your motivation for a move apparent.
Q: Should my paragraphs be left- or fully justified?
A: That is a matter of personal preference. My own is to avoid that boxy look and only justify your left margin.
Q: Am I supposed to include a cover letter with my résumé?
A: Good question; you will need to read my next section for the answer.
Your Cover Letter
As a recruiter, I probably receive cover letters with less than 25% of the résumés I receive, and that is usually okay because I’ve probably solicited most of the résumés that come to me. I call people out of the blue whom I have reason to believe can either do the job I’m trying to fill, may lead to someone who can, or may be a qualified candidate for some other job down the road. Often, I’ve been referred to or have otherwise prequalified these people, and have a general sense of their skills and experience and other times I have not. In either case, as an executive recruiter who is (hopefully) going to be paid for placing qualified candidate, I know I will spend time speaking with and better qualifying my them before I present them to my clients.
Does that mean, however, that I dismiss the need for a cover letter? Not at all. I find a cover letter is often just as, if not more, informative than the résumé. And a good cover letter may significantly reduce the time a candidate needs to spend with me answering questions. I especially appreciate a cover letter when the résumé I receive is unsolicited – and so, I’m sure, would a prospective employer.
Your cover letter, whether it is in the body of an email message, a signed letter accompanying a snail-mailed résumé or the cover sheet of a fax, if often the first thing the person who is screening your résumé will read. It sets the tone of your qualifications for a job and is the first impression you will make on your reader. It should be spellchecked, reviewed for grammatical correctness and punctuation, relevant and brief (or brief BUT relevant), and not merely a line or two that says nothing more than “attached for your perusal is my résumé.”
Essentially, your letter should express an interest in the company or the position you are seeking; mention that you are enclosing or attaching your résumé; state why you believe you are suited for the job and the value you can add to the firm; state a follow-up action such as, “Please call me to discuss my application,” or better yet, “I will call you tomorrow to schedule an interview.” (And then do it.)
Like any good read, the cover letter should have a hook, something that will immediately grab your reader’s attention and then make her or him WANT to get to your résumé. It will give you the opportunity to present in a way you cannot in your résumé your knowledge of the company to which you are applying as well as explain a host of issues – such as a lengthy period of unemployment, a history of short term positions, or a knowledge of an industry in which you lack experience – to which your résumé alone cannot speak. It is, essentially, a golden opportunity to sell yourself as the best candidate for the job.
It is important to keep in mind that your cover letter serves a separate function from your resume and should not be used to repeat the details of your resume, such as work history, education, or personal objectives. The resume is about you, your experience and your skills… the cover letter is about what you can do for the employer and should be tailored to its objective. You may be able to use the same résumé over and over, but writing an effective cover letter will reflect the time, thought and effort you put into it. It WILL count.
Before you write your cover letter take a few moments to research exactly what it is the company is looking for – then use the company’s own words (and stated desires) when selling how your experience will benefit the company. To do this effectively you need to keep in mind the “features and benefits” rule: Features tell and benefits sell. Your résumé tells about your experience, skills and attributes and your cover letter sells what you bring to the table.
Let’s look at the construction of a cover letter.
Like your résumé or anything else you write is a reflection of your professionalism, your attention to detail and your understanding of the job. In other words, like your résumé, your cover letter is an expression of you.
First it should be concise. Think about the one or two key points you want it to make. Those may be why you believe you are qualified for the position without the requisite background, a highlight of a couple of key achievements, a pre-explanation of why your résumé shows a gap or a long period of unemployment, or why your last two positions were for less than one year.
Second, it should physically restate all of your contact information as shown on your résumé, be dated and should be addressed whenever possible by name and title to someone specific. A department or title only and Dear Sir or Madam should only be an address of last resort.
Third, it should open by introducing its purpose and create a compelling reason to continue to read it. This may be by naming a referral source, stating your knowledge of the company’s role in its industry or its recent growth, or that it had just obtained a new contract, or any thing else, preferably not of common knowledge that conveys to the reader that you have done your homework on the company.
Fourth, it should have substance. That would be conveyed in the two or three paragraphs following the introduction and could include matters of your current employment situation, whether you’re working or not, or when you might be available; what you are looking for in the way of opportunity, responsibility or environment and why the position might appeal to you; specific accomplishments that you might have addressed briefly in your résumé, but wish to expound upon; address questions that your résumé may raise that may possibly be a deterrent to your candidacy; and what specific qualities you can bring them or what kinds of contributions you can make. As you write this portion of your cover letter, state not what the company can do for you, but rather, what you can do for it. [My apologies to President Kennedy.]
Fifth, request or state a proactive response. (Please call me at… or I will call you on…).Be assertive but polite and make sure if you say you will follow-up, that you do. Your failure to may be considered indicative of your follow-through.
And (of course) let’s throw in some don’ts.
- If you are sending your résumé and cover letter by email, don’t waste your or your reader’s time by sending two cover letters. By this I mean don’t attach your cover letter as a separate document, as you might your résumé, to your email and then explain in the body of your email and then write a narrative in the body of your email saying everything again. Since your reader will see your email first, and since you will likely prefer that your cover letter is read prior to your résumé, it would be best to put your cover letter right there in the reader’s face where it will be seen. Also, you risk having the cover letter overlooked entirely as the reader might just go to your résumé, see the issues you wanted explained beforehand, and dismiss your candidacy out of hand.
- If you are going to the effort of putting a strong cover letter together, at least try to have it read.
- If you have a basic cover letter that you like to adjust each time you send your résumé, you can store it as a draft or template, or just keep it as a Word document and do a copy and paste for each email you send.
- Be sure the letter is addressed to the person to whom you intended it. This may seem basic, but so many of us store our letters on our hard drives and then reuse them. Any distraction might cause the letter going to the hiring manager at Merrill Lynch say how much you would enjoy working at Smith Barney, or worse, Aetna Life Insurance (not even in the same industry); or address the letter to Robert Jones, and start it with Dear Ms. Jones. These are the kinds of errors that can be embarrassing at best, eliminative of your candidacy at worst, and in either case, avoidable by proofreading.
- Don’t talk about yourself without selling yourself.
- For example: I have an education in international finance and have gained tremendous insights over my last four years in trade finance. I believe my experience would allow me to bring some new and interesting perspectives on the some of the kinds of issues an international bank such as HSBC will be facing in the current market.
- As opposed to: I have a strong interest in international business and would enjoy working for a global company like HSBC Bank.
- Pretend that anyone reading your résumé was born in the last century. Use clear language and don’t couch your skills in buzz words.
- Don’t be cute.
- Don’t be trite.
- Don’t overstate the obvious.
- Don’t pretend to know something you do not. (It'll show.)
- Don’t include all of your performance ratings, your client lists, your call reports, or your last three personality profiles.
- Don’t talk about your personal life, your family, your wife, husband, POSSLQ or other partners or roommates, your health, or your interests in raising miniature schnauzers (unless you are applying for a position as a dog handler or trainer).
- Keep salary, wages, bonus, incentive pay or commissions, or any mention of compensation, along with benefits, profit sharing, retirement plans, stock options, vacation days, sick days, holidays, personal days, birthdays, flex-time, part-time, in fact any time, out of your letter.
- One exception might be when your résumé shows you are overqualified for a position, but you still have an interest in it and may willing to take a step back in salary. In this event, you might just mention in your letter why you are interested in the position, and that you are prepared to be flexible on your salary requirements.
- This may need some balancing: Don’t use a humble tone to explain yourself and don’t confuse cockiness with confidence. In other words, be yourself and don’t sell that person short.
- Don’t use your letter to whine, grouse, complain or air dirty laundry about your former employers.
- Don’t take your former associates’ names in vain. Heaven knows what they have to say about you.
This could be an almost endless list, so if you think of more don’ts, it’s okay to share them with me if you must, but more important, listen to that inner voice of yours. If it asks you if you’re really sure you want to do something, then the likelihood is that you are not.
The point is you have a goal here, that being to get yourself in front of a hiring manager. You want a cover letter that is dynamic, readable and will create, not a desire, but an actual need to read YOUR résumé over all others. Before you click the send button, press FAX, or seal, stamp and mail your résumé and cover letter, ask yourself one simple question. “Would I want to meet the person who sent me this, or would I be wasting my and my company’s time?”
I would like to wish you luck in your job search; certainly luck might play a small part. But don’t underestimate your ability to create your own luck. Remember, you are your own best advocate.
