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Secrets to putting together a great resumeBy Peter Gray
Actually, it's an overstatement to say I read all those resumes. I skim them in just a few seconds each, occasionally slowing down to read a good resume more thoroughly. That is an important clue about what makes a great resume: It should be both a good skim and a good read. How do you make your re-sume a good skim? Think about the most important parts of your resume for a reader to absorb at a glance: • The summary or objective section at the top (if you use one; more on this below) • Each job entry headline, including company, job title, and dates of tenure • Key accomplishments in your current or most recent job • The education section • Any special skills, affiliations, or other items listed at the end. Format your resume (using boldface type, white space, etc.) so that those items are easy to spot. Some resumes begin with a summary or objective section at the top. This is needed only if you are making some kind of career shift. If you are looking for a job that closely matches your current or last one, your experience speaks for itself and requires no explanation. If you do use one, the summary or objective statement should be informative, along the lines of "X type of professional seeks Y type of opportunity." Make sure that both X and Y are a good fit for the job you're applying for, or the company you're sending your resume to. The purpose of this resume section is to identify yourself with useful labels so a reader can quickly figure out what work you can do and where you'd fit in an organization. Avoid generic self-descriptive language like "energetic," "hard worker," "team player," etc. I call phrases like these "empty calories" because they fill space without adding value. Anyone can put words like these in a resume, so what do they prove? As for the body of the resume: It should be in reverse chronological layout, starting with your current or most recent job and going backwards in time from there. This is the most common resume layout, and it creates a narrative that helps the reader visualize the arc of your career over time. Occasionally I see a resume in the functional layout, with detailed descriptions of skills and activities unattached to specific jobs, followed only by a few cursory lines listing jobs and dates. This format is unhelpful (or even maddening) to the reader who needs to figure out your career narrative from an undated, out-of-context mix of skills and accomplishments. That's a little like painting an abstract cubist canvas for someone who really wants to see a nice landscape painting. Sometimes people choose the functional layout if they are self-conscious about something, perhaps eager to gloss over a zigzag career path or a series of short job tenures. Those are certainly issues you need to address carefully, but the functional format does not conceal them; it only calls attention to them by making the reader wonder if there is something to hide. In the bulleted text under each job heading, emphasize verifiable accomplishments and results rather than activities, responsibilities, and unverifiable skills. Be specific, using numbers wherever possible. For example, don't say "Successfully managed a team responsible for quality process improvement." Instead, say "Trained my six-per-son team in a new quality process that reduced the error rate at least 50 percent while shortening cycle time at least 20 percent every year for three years." If you're struggling to cram your resume onto one page, don't. It's more important that your resume be formatted attractively, with a legible font size and plenty of white space in the margins and between entries. For an experienced professional, a one- or two-page resume is reasonable, three pages is OK but pushing it, and four pages is definitely too long. A cover letter, which typically interests the reader less than the resume itself, should not exceed one page. Should you hire a resume-writing service? I don't recommend it. Your resume is both too important and too personal to be delegated to someone else. There may be good resume consultants out there, but there are definitely bad ones. (For a cautionary tale, read Barbara Ehrenreich's book about job-search limbo, "Bait and Switch.") There are enough free and inexpensive resources available -- including books, Web sites and even the resume templates in Microsoft Word -- to give you the tools you need to write your own resume. But enough about the content of your resume. To really maximize its effectiveness, you need to think about how best to get into a dialogue about it -- about you -- with the right person. Even a stellar resume will often fall flat if sent out unsolicited. It should not have to make your introductions for you; that is too much to ask of a mere piece of paper. Do some research and networking in advance; send your resume after making personal contact with the recipient; and then follow up to request a meeting or conversation. This is much more likely to yield results and move you towards your next big opportunity. Peter Gray is the head of executive recruiting at QTI Professional Staffing in Madison. peterg@qstaff.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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