Month: July 2014

How do you choose your leisure reading?  When you read the newspaper, visit a website, or pick up a magazine what grabs you attention?   Is it a compelling headline?  An interesting picture, or some other graphic?  Do you scan the article or do a deep-dive for total comprehension?  How do you decide which route to take?  I would imagine that time pressures hold sway.

Consider spending your day wading through a mountain of resumes, hoping to find a handful of candidates that match your specs?  I recruit for a living and I find that thought oppressive.  Would you like to sift through boring, poorly formatted resumes all day.  Madness!  It could drive one to drink!  No one wants to read boring material.  It is no different for a recruiter.  To be productive we scan resumes and put them in piles.  You want your resume to land in the right pile, the “I have got to call this guy” pile. If you want your resume to stand out, you must internalize that thought.

• Provide a short Executive Summary at the beginning to set the stage.
• Executive Summary – Executive Level, Industry Segment, Functional Discipline

• Use paragraph format for Executive Summary, and Job Responsibilities.
• Italics for job responsibilities will make the resume more interesting to read.
• Use bullet-point format for Accomplishments and Skill Sets.
• Use bold and underline functions to make headers stand out.
• Give a brief description of each employer and the purpose of each position.

Think like a marketing professional.  These folks are tasked with creating interest by communicating the benefits of their brand.    After all, isn’t your resume about communicating your message?   Tell your story with high impact language in an interesting format.  The words you choose must stimulate an immediate emotional response.  They must be powerful and precise, evoking a sense of energy and excitement.  Eliminate trite buzz words! Buzz words are buzz killers!

We all know the adage.  “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.”  Whereas this might not be completely accurate, where your resume is concerned it most certainly is true.  Your resume is likely your first opportunity to make an impact with a hiring manager.  In too many cases a strong candidate with a weak resume loses out on a great opportunity.   It does not have to be that way.  Understanding how a resume is reviewed and used will give you the fundamental information to craft a product that will stand out.

The following five issues are likely working against you.

• Use header and footer function to retain continuity.
• Use Table function to hold formatting for employers, job titles and dates.
• PDF is the best format for integrity in transmission.
• 12 pt type face size for the body of the resume, larger for headers, 14 to 16 pt.
• Use spacing to break up jobs held and to transition from different formats. 
• White space is important!  Use it liberally.
• Use underlining to separate employers.

• Provide a short Executive Summary at the beginning to set the stage.

• Use paragraph format for Career Summary, and Job Responsibilities.
• Italics for job responsibilities will make the resume more interesting to read.
• Use bullet-point format for Accomplishments and Skill Sets.
• Use bold and underline functions to make headers stand out.
• Give a brief description of each employer and the purpose of each position.

• Leave off Personal interests and “references available upon request.”
• Use industry specific terminology.
• Accomplishments should be predominant
• Executive/Career summary must address your functional discipline, level of accomplishment; and industry/segment expertise.
• Give a short, one line explanation for employer changes.
• Your resume file name should put your last name first, then first name and date.
• Use File/Properties menu option to list key words and other data.
• Use appropriate key words in the body of the resume.
• Avoid trite phrases and meaningless buzz-words.

• Your Career Summary should position you based on your general contributions.
• Your Skill Sets should provide more definition to your strengths
• Your Employment Summary should bullet-point your most significant accomplishments.

• Cell phone and email addresses are key.
• Home mailing address is unnecessary.

The most important point to understand is that your resume is not read as much as it is scanned.  In many of my search assignments up to 50% of the resumes I receive do not fit the desired profile, but I still must review each and every one to make that determination.  Hiring managers and their support staff must use their time wisely when sifting through a mountain of resumes.  These folks sort your resume into two piles; “possible” and “forget-about-it” by quickly scanning to see if the resume reflects the ideal profile for the position in question.  Even if their scan picks up some of the key attributes in question, a poorly formatted resume can end up in the “forget-about-it” pile.

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Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

I landed my first job out of college by responding to a classified ad posted in the local newspaper.  After that, I did not need to look for another job for 11 years.  The next job I landed was through an executive recruiter and the one following that was through an ad placed in a trade magazine.  My last job-search was conducted under direction of an outplacement firm which focused on the power of networking.  Interestingly, my networking with an executive recruiter led to my final job in the corporate world.  It was in that last situation, working with an outplacement counselor, where I had my first experience with a career coach.  Although he was not familiar with my industry segment he was very good at helping me improve my networking skills, especially the quality of my communications.  He kept me focused and motivated, resulting in a fairly short time between jobs.  That was, wow, over 20 years ago.  Email and the Internet were in their infancy.  Snail mail and the telephone were still our primary modes of communication.  It was still Prime Time for Baby-boomers.

Throughout my corporate career, interrupted by a few short-lived recessions, the economy was growing steadily, fueled by the demand created by baby-boomers and supported by deregulation and the Regan Era fiscal policies.  Jobs were a lot easier to come by.  It was easier to find a new

situation.  And then the world changed.  The job market is a very different today.  In many respects it is a lot more difficult.  It is also much easier if you have the key.  I left the corporate world in 1999 to begin my own executive search business.

One of the most upsetting situations I encounter in my work is talking with displaced Boomers who have had solid careers only to be derailed by a merger or a restructuring which cost them their job.  They focused so much on their day to day responsibilities that they did not kept pace with the changing job market.  To say that their job-search skills are rusty would be an understatement.  Even worse, they have neglected their network.  It is no longer effective and must be rebuilt.  Their single-minded focus is to find another job, just like the last job.  No other options are on the table.  Many have the cushion of a severance package but few have outplacement benefits.  They find it difficult to grasp the fact that the jobs they left are gone or have been filled by younger, lesser compensated employees.  The absolute worst situation is to talk to someone who has burned through their severance and is working down their savings;  true desperation.  If you find yourself in this situation, you probably need professional help: an intervention.  This is when a career coach can be very important.

When you hire a career coach you are entering into a personal relationship.  A good coach will learn about your personality and how you approach a challenge, or adversity.  She will use that understanding to help you craft a strategy and set goals to achieve your job search objectives.  She will stay with you, offering encouragement and support as you execute your plan.  A good coach will help you break through roadblocks, especially those you create for yourself.  She knows the job market and can help you evaluate options for a meaningful next chapter.  The bottom-line is that you need to feel comfortable with your coach as she may have a major impact on your career.  For the relationship to work, both you and your coach need a connection, a bond.

It is a brave new world out there.  We all need help from time to time.  Your career is too important to neglect, so it is a wise move to engage a career coach to help you through you job search.

Thank you for visiting my blog.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.
Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
www.newcenturydynamics.com