Resume Solutions
Make sure your resume positions you accurately
Tuesday September 6, 2011 9:08 AM
BACKGROUND
Mitchell came to me with the goal of preparing his resume for an advancement opportunity. While he felt confident about his resume, he recently reviewed a resume I wrote for one of his peers and started second guessing the strength of his candidacy on paper.
MITCHELL'S RESUME
Mitchell's original resume was three pages in length and included 14 years of work experience. It opened with a lengthy heading followed by an Objective Statement and Mitchell's education. It continued with a Qualifications and Achievement section, and ended with a two-and-a-half page Professional Experience summary. In this summary, Mitchell presented all of his responsibilities in bullet points, which created a lengthy resume with little prioritization in its 57 bullet points.
THE PROBLEM
Mitchell's resume did not position him for the senior leadership roles he was seeking. Poor formatting, inclusion of unnecessary sections and lack of content prioritization kept his rsum from getting time in front of the recruiters whose attention he desired. His resume looked more like an entry- or mid-level management rsum.
For instance, Mitchell's heading, Objective Statement and Education section likely would be the only items seen during the four- to seven-second screening process. There was nothing within those sections to differentiate his candidacy from that of a competitor.
In his professional experience section, it was clear Mitchell had copied from job descriptions. This would immediately disengage readers. The Qualifications and Achievement section was lacking in content for someone with 14 years of experience, not to mention that this section was not the strongest representation of what Mitchell had to offer.
Lastly, and perhaps the only thing that was right with Mitchell's resume, was the length. With 14 years of experience and a strategy to position him for the next level of leadership, I was comfortable with a three-page resume.
THE SOLUTION
First, Mitchell needed a resume that popped. Both format and content are vital for attracting and keeping the reader's attention given his or her limited time and the competitive nature of the field Mitchell is in. Therefore, I designed a format to serve as a great backdrop to tell the impressive story of his career.
Opening Mitchell's resume with a robust Qualifications Summary was critical in positioning him for how he wants to be seen. His summary includes quotes from performance reviews in addition to key accomplishments and core skills. When contrasted with the Objective Statement on his original document, Mitchell's "after" resume becomes more effective than his "before" version.
Flowing through his resume to the Professional Experience section, I explored Mitchell's responsibilities and accomplishments, placing them in a bullet-point/ paragraph style to highlight how he contributed value. This format allows for better prioritization of experiences and draws the reader's attention to the most important details.
Mitchell's new resume ends with his education section and industry training. He had placed his education on page one of his original resume as he was a recent graduate. But, because his education does not differentiate his candidacy and is not a key selling point, a more appropriate placement is at the end of his resume.
THE RESULTS
Mitchell was thrilled with his new resume. He e-mailed me to say, "I have received nothing but positive remarks in regard to my resume, and I have even had employers screen me for higher-level positions."
I am confident Mitchell's career will continue to progress with the benefit of his new resume representing him as he wants to be seen.
Samantha Nolan is a certified professional resume writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service resume-writing firm. Do you have a resume or job-search question for Dear Sam? Reach Samantha at dearsam@ladybug-design.com . For more about Sam's resume 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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