Resume Solutions
Job seekers beware; avoid outdated resume techniques
Tuesday September 6, 2011 9:09 AM
Dear Sam: I am 57 years young and am beginning to feel my age is hindering the success of my job
search. I have been out of work for 10 months, and while this seems in line with peers who also are
searching for work, I haven't had an interview in five months. I'm wondering if my resume is to
blame. I haven't needed a resume in more than 20 years, and I have to say I haven't spent the time
I probably should have to update it. Can you give me some effective ways for presenting my
experience while avoiding conveyance of my age? - Cindy
Dear Cindy: I'm sorry to hear of the lack of response you have seen during your search. While this economy is tough, great resumes still get great results. I urge you to take a look at what you could do better in the presentation of your experience.
There are a number of strategies you can employ as a seasoned professional to avoid unnecessarily aging your candidacy on a resume, while minimizing potentially disqualifying factors that you might or might not have considered. Here are a few of those strategies:
Present only the relevant amount of experience. When reviewing your career, remember that hiring managers are more interested in what you have done recently, so including information from 20 or 30 years ago likely will do more harm than good.
Focus on the last 10 to 15 years of your career, particularly if you apply for a position that does not necessitate more experience. There are always exceptions of course. If you are a senior executive, it is likely the hiring manager will be looking for a seasoned candidate expected to have 20-plus years of experience. The key is to present the amount of experience that is relevant to your current career interests.
If it is difficult to break up your experience due to tenure within a certain position or employer, consider the combination-resume format. In this format, you present highlights of your career before the Professional Experience section (where dates appear). This allows you to focus the reader's attention on your qualifiers versus potential disqualifiers.
Incorporate keywords and update jargon. You also want to make sure the jargon used within your resume is up-to-date with today's vernacular. Antiquated terms and job titles can age a candidate immediately. Take time to review job descriptions to be sure your rsum speaks the language of today's hiring audience, and eliminate terms that have become obsolete in today's job market.
If you are confused by what keywords to incorporate, I suggest a simple keyword-mapping exercise: (1) print a representative sampling of 10 or so job postings that interest you; (2) write the desired qualifications, skills, etc. down the left side of a piece of paper; (3) cross-reference the list with your qualifications, moving the items you possess to the right side of the piece of paper; and (4) write items you sort of have down the middle of the page.
This "master list" contains a snapshot of your qualifiers (right side of the page), disqualifiers (left side of the page), and potential disqualifiers (middle of the page). Incorporate language pertaining to the items on the right side of the page into your rsum from top to bottom. Be careful how you handle items that remain on the left side of the paper or fall in the middle. This exercise will provide you with a road map to the language you need to speak to conduct a competitive job search based on your areas of interest.
As a side note, this exercise also showcases whether your objective is too diverse. If you find yourself writing furiously by the time you are mapping your fifth, sixth and seventh job postings, perhaps you need to look closer at the purpose of your job search to ensure you position yourself as an expert of something and not a jack-of-all-trades expert of nothing.
Revitalize your resume format. If you are using a resume format you used in the '80s or '90s, it not only shows your age but ignores some of the key strategies of a 21st century job search. Be sure your resume is in line with today's formatting standards: open with a Qualifications Summary and not an Objective Statement, focus on accomplishments and not responsibilities, and use an engaging style of action-oriented content. When a resume is unattractive, it repels readership. However, if you have a pleasing aesthetic, it compels readership and goes a long way to extending the screening process.
Don't date your education if it ages you. Education can immediately date a candidate when listed with the year of graduation. Therefore, the year should be omitted.
Also, consider whether listing your graduation year diminishes the effectiveness of your strategy to avoid presenting your entire career history. I see many resumes where candidates present 15 or so years of experience, yet in the education section they date their degree, which is 10-plus years prior to the experience. This simple mistake can completely ruin your strategy to avoid aging your candidacy.
As a side note, I work with a lot of clients who do not have a degree and make the mistake of placing high school information or partially completed degree programs on their rsum. Typically this information does nothing but detract from someone's candidacy while reinforcing the lack of a degree. If this sounds like you, consider omitting the education section entirely.
With a review of these tips to modernize your rsum, your experience will shine and potential disqualifiers related to the fears of aging your candidacy will be removed from your rsum. I wish you great success!
As I work with a lot of clients with 20 to 30 years of experience, my Web site and Dear Sam archive contain a number of samples that reinforce the strategies presented here. View samples on www.ladybug- design.com/blog .
Samantha Nolan is a certified professional rsum writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service rsum-writing firm. Do you have a rsum or job-search question for Dear Sam? Reach Samantha at dearsam@ladybug- design.com . For more about Sam's rsum writing services, visit www.ladybug-design.com or call (614) 570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG (1-888-952-3928).
Dear Cindy: I'm sorry to hear of the lack of response you have seen during your search. While this economy is tough, great resumes still get great results. I urge you to take a look at what you could do better in the presentation of your experience.
There are a number of strategies you can employ as a seasoned professional to avoid unnecessarily aging your candidacy on a resume, while minimizing potentially disqualifying factors that you might or might not have considered. Here are a few of those strategies:
Present only the relevant amount of experience. When reviewing your career, remember that hiring managers are more interested in what you have done recently, so including information from 20 or 30 years ago likely will do more harm than good.
Focus on the last 10 to 15 years of your career, particularly if you apply for a position that does not necessitate more experience. There are always exceptions of course. If you are a senior executive, it is likely the hiring manager will be looking for a seasoned candidate expected to have 20-plus years of experience. The key is to present the amount of experience that is relevant to your current career interests.
If it is difficult to break up your experience due to tenure within a certain position or employer, consider the combination-resume format. In this format, you present highlights of your career before the Professional Experience section (where dates appear). This allows you to focus the reader's attention on your qualifiers versus potential disqualifiers.
Incorporate keywords and update jargon. You also want to make sure the jargon used within your resume is up-to-date with today's vernacular. Antiquated terms and job titles can age a candidate immediately. Take time to review job descriptions to be sure your rsum speaks the language of today's hiring audience, and eliminate terms that have become obsolete in today's job market.
If you are confused by what keywords to incorporate, I suggest a simple keyword-mapping exercise: (1) print a representative sampling of 10 or so job postings that interest you; (2) write the desired qualifications, skills, etc. down the left side of a piece of paper; (3) cross-reference the list with your qualifications, moving the items you possess to the right side of the piece of paper; and (4) write items you sort of have down the middle of the page.
This "master list" contains a snapshot of your qualifiers (right side of the page), disqualifiers (left side of the page), and potential disqualifiers (middle of the page). Incorporate language pertaining to the items on the right side of the page into your rsum from top to bottom. Be careful how you handle items that remain on the left side of the paper or fall in the middle. This exercise will provide you with a road map to the language you need to speak to conduct a competitive job search based on your areas of interest.
As a side note, this exercise also showcases whether your objective is too diverse. If you find yourself writing furiously by the time you are mapping your fifth, sixth and seventh job postings, perhaps you need to look closer at the purpose of your job search to ensure you position yourself as an expert of something and not a jack-of-all-trades expert of nothing.
Revitalize your resume format. If you are using a resume format you used in the '80s or '90s, it not only shows your age but ignores some of the key strategies of a 21st century job search. Be sure your resume is in line with today's formatting standards: open with a Qualifications Summary and not an Objective Statement, focus on accomplishments and not responsibilities, and use an engaging style of action-oriented content. When a resume is unattractive, it repels readership. However, if you have a pleasing aesthetic, it compels readership and goes a long way to extending the screening process.
Don't date your education if it ages you. Education can immediately date a candidate when listed with the year of graduation. Therefore, the year should be omitted.
Also, consider whether listing your graduation year diminishes the effectiveness of your strategy to avoid presenting your entire career history. I see many resumes where candidates present 15 or so years of experience, yet in the education section they date their degree, which is 10-plus years prior to the experience. This simple mistake can completely ruin your strategy to avoid aging your candidacy.
As a side note, I work with a lot of clients who do not have a degree and make the mistake of placing high school information or partially completed degree programs on their rsum. Typically this information does nothing but detract from someone's candidacy while reinforcing the lack of a degree. If this sounds like you, consider omitting the education section entirely.
With a review of these tips to modernize your rsum, your experience will shine and potential disqualifiers related to the fears of aging your candidacy will be removed from your rsum. I wish you great success!
As I work with a lot of clients with 20 to 30 years of experience, my Web site and Dear Sam archive contain a number of samples that reinforce the strategies presented here. View samples on www.ladybug- design.com/blog .
Samantha Nolan is a certified professional rsum writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service rsum-writing firm. Do you have a rsum or job-search question for Dear Sam? Reach Samantha at dearsam@ladybug- design.com . For more about Sam's rsum writing services, visit www.ladybug-design.com or call (614) 570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG (1-888-952-3928).
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