September 1, 2009 • 7:18 pm 0
Typical resume advice says to use quantitative results — revenue generated, costs saved, profits increased. But what about people who aren’t in sales or don’t manage a budget. What results can a mid-level manager or someone new in a career show?
Read my answer in my latest post for Vault.com:
Filed under: career coaching, resource recommendation, job search, resume tips, Resume writing, Vault.com
June 26, 2009 • 12:04 pm 0
Last week in my Ask A Recruiter column for www.theglasshammer.com I wrote about the two main factors that every resume needs – authenticity and specificity. Specificity (i.e., tailoring a resume to the employer/ industry/ function you are targeting), is particularly important because it enables your resume to be found when recruiters search and noticed when recruiters screen.
Recruiters search for resumes on job boards, social networks such as LinkedIn, articles and white papers (especially at senior levels), and their own database. When a search kicks off recruiters filter through the resumes from these sources by keywords and criteria. If you don’t have those keywords or criteria in your resume, you may not get picked.
Read the rest of my tips for getting your resume searched and noticed at:
Filed under: career coaching, resource recommendation, Ask A Recruiter, Glass Hammer, job search, recruiter tips, resume tips
March 20, 2009 • 12:46 am 0
As a recruiter I have seen thousands of resumes over my career. For each career level, from student intern to rainmaking partner, there are specific nuances that make winning resumes stick out. However, at all levels, winning resumes demonstrate three criteria:
See the three musts in my latest post for The GlassHammer:
http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2009/03/18/ask-a-recruiter-three-musts-of-winning-resumes/
Filed under: career coaching, resource recommendation, GlassHammer, job search, resume tips
August 14, 2008 • 7:59 pm 0
I have been getting an unusual amount of questions regarding resumes these days so even though I just posted about resumes recently, I feel obligated to talk about this again: Be specific.
See my point in yesterday’s post about quantifiable results
See my columns on resumes at Wetfeet, particularly where I talk about Summary… http://www.wetfeet.com/Experienced-Hire/Resume—Cover-letter/Experts/Experience-Summary–Value-Added-.aspx
and about describing your experience http://www.wetfeet.com/Experienced-Hire/Resume—Cover-letter/Experts/A-Case-for-Experience.aspx
Don’t make the resume reader guess what you did. Don’t use such flowery turns of phrase and long-winded descriptions that we’re no longer sure what, if anything, you accomplished. What revenues did you generate? What costs did you save? What products did you develop? What deliverables were delivered? Just the facts, please, and make them quantifiable.
Filed under: career coaching, career coaching, resume tips
August 13, 2008 • 7:40 pm 1
From the archives of the SixFigureStart newsletter (http://home.ezezine.com/2034_2/):
As a recruiter I have seen thousands of resumes over my career. For each career level, from student intern to rainmaking partner, there are specific nuances that make winning resumes stick out. However, at all levels, winning resumes demonstrate three must-have criteria:
No mistakes. This means no typos, no spelling errors, and no grammatical mistakes. Watch out for homonyms that won’t get caught by a simple spell-check. You don’t “meat” clients (hopefully!). Check proper names for exact spelling (e.g., PowerPoint, not Powerpoint or Power Point).
Quantitative results. If you sold business, how much in revenues exactly? If you cut costs, by how much in dollars or %? If you managed a team, how many staff or how much budget or both? Even non-profits or public sector jobs have tangible metrics. If you solicited grants, how much did you raise? If you organized a conference, how big was the audience, budget, participant list? If you were an administrative assistant, how many people did you support, how many calls did you field, how many records did you file?
Compelling career progression. The resume should tell your story, and the ideal career story has a successful ending. Your most recent job should be the peak of your career to date. Your past jobs should show an upward trajectory, in terms of responsibility and/or expertise. For those starting out, each successive job should show growth in some area.
Filed under: career coaching, career coaching, resume tips
