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Top 5 Resume Writing Myths & Mistakes To Avoid
Posted in: Blog by admin on January 13, 2011 | No Comments
1) Myth: Resumes should be only one, or at the most, two pages.
In most cases, this is true. It is the rare reviewer of resumes who, when being completely honest, will tell you that he or she spends more than a few seconds in the first review of a resume. Unless your resume captures immediate attention through an eye-appealing design and succinct, compelling language, your resume will be screened out after just 15 seconds. With this reality in mind, imagine the thoughts of the reviewer when he or she receives a four- or five-page resume, with another 100 resumes waiting for review right behind it. Clearly, the odds of your resume capturing attention and being read increase when the length is limited to one or two pages.
Are there exceptions to this rule? Absolutely!
While it is true that with each additional page you reduce your chances of your resume being read thoroughly, for many executives, contract workers, consultants, and technical professionals it is unrealistic and nearly impossible to compress years of experience into one or two pages. When attempted, important achievements are left out to make room for a full chronology of the career history and education. What is left is a boring listing of companies, positions, and dates that are virtually guaranteed to turn off the reader and land your resume in the circular file.
A better strategy is to write your resume with exactly as much detail and description as is needed to persuasively convince the reader that you are the ideal candidate to solve his or her problems – to compel the reader to pick up the phone and call you for an interview. While this is sometimes a difficult balance to strike, you should review and edit your resume with a very discriminating eye toward reducing unnecessary wordiness. Every word in your resume should have a purpose. Items that can be presented as a list – continuing education courses, technical summaries, associations and memberships, etc. – can often be included in an addendum to the resume that may or may not be used as appropriate. Within the resume, use succinct, dynamic, action-oriented language to convey your ability to add value to the reader’s company and you will capture and hold attention through three or even more pages.
2) Myth: All resumes should include a clearly stated objective.
It is essential that your resume is audience-focused – it must succinctly communicate that you understand the employer’s needs and that you are uniquely qualified to meet those needs. While the use of an objective is a controversial issue, at its basis, an objective tells the reader what you want from him or her (focused on YOUR needs rather than the employers’). A popular and often more effective alternative to the objective, the qualifications summary, allows you to establish focus for the resume while summarizing the key qualifications and value you offer the employer. This is a subtle but critical difference – one that may weigh heavily in opening the door to an interview. While an objective is both appropriate and effective in some cases, for example, career changers or new graduates with little or no work experience in the targeted field, experiment with the qualifications summary as a strong alternative.
3) Myth: Resumes should thoroughly describe the responsibilities of each position.
The absolute most important element of your resume is your value proposition. Your unique ability to solve business problems, meet challenging goals, and produce desired results should be the focus of your qualifications summary (see above) and this focus should be supported by proof throughout your career. How better to do this than through achievement-oriented, results-focused descriptions of your career history? While employers and recruiters will want to know the scope of your position (number of direct reports, amounts of budgets managed, areas of management authority, etc.) this is most effectively communicated within the context of the challenges you faced, the actions you took, and the results of your actions. “Responsibilities” only tell the reader what you were supposed to do, not what you actually did do. Use powerful, active language to concisely tell the reader the “story” behind your most recent or relevant positions. By documenting your consistent ability to produce results and solve problems you will demonstrate your ability to produce similar results in the future.
4) Myth: Resumes should include only the last ten years of experience.
Content of your resume should be strategically selected to support your focus and value proposition. While it is true that readers of your resume will be most interested in your most recent experience, there is often value in including experience further back in your history. Perhaps your early career includes work for well-known, prestigious companies. Perhaps you want to document the full scope of your cross-industry experience, much of which occurred in your early career. Perhaps you believe some valuable networking opportunities may come out of your experience 15 or 20 years ago. Or perhaps your most impressive accomplishments were in a position you held 12 years ago. In any case, if your career history is lengthy, it will be apparent to the reader that your career did not suddenly materialize ten years ago, so there is little harm and many benefits to summarizing this early experience. Of course, this does not mean that you must give equal page weight to your early career. If you feel early dates will be used to screen you out, subtly leave them out of your early career summary. If some early career positions have more strategic relevance than others, give them more emphasis in your summary. Think carefully about the content of your resume. If there is solid reasoning behind your desire to present early experience, than do so.
5) Myth: Resumes should include personal information, to indicate the many dimensions to your life and interests.
There is no way to predict the personal biases of the individuals who will read your resume. The first and primary way that an employer uses a resume is to screen candidates out; don’t give them any reason! Professional memberships and related volunteer work should often be included but religious affiliations, family status, social club memberships, and hobbies have no place on a resume. The only exception to this is when you are preparing a resume specifically written to appeal to a single individual who you are absolutely certain would be fascinated in your piloting license or passion for golf. Even then, be careful; you never know where your resume will be passed. However, if you are certain that your personal information will help you to break the ice and build rapport, you may have a valid reason for including it.
Resume Tips to Nail That Job Interview
Posted in: Blog by admin on | No Comments
Your resume is extremely important. Think about it. In the span of a few pages, you need to convey that YOU are worthy of at least being considered for that job vacancy. It really doesn’t matter if you are applying for a manager job or an executive position, what’s important is that the resume contents and resume layout fit the position at hand. Sadly, many ruin their chances at job success because they cannot format their resumes properly. Don’t be one of them. Follow our resume tips and you’ll get the chance you deserve.
Resume Tips to Help you Get that Job Interview Call
Before you go on your hunt for great job interview tips, you should first focus on writing a great resume. After all, the job interview will come IF your resume says you deserve it.
Resume Tip No. 1 – Different resume types require different resume formats.
Your resume is really your ‘first impression’ and just like any real, one-on-one interview, it’s important that your resume conveys the right ‘image’. For instance, an executive resume is best presented with a cover letter outlining the highlights of your career. For the succeeding pages, it’s best to list your work experience in reverse chronological order (i.e., most recent first). For mid-level positions, a cover letter is not really required. For new graduates, it’s best to start your resume with your educational attainment and any related ‘on-the-job’ training or seminars even if you are currently employed.
Apart from the above, you can’t go wrong with using a clear, easy-to-read font like Times New Roman 10 pt or 12 pt. Also, assuming you send in your resume via email, use general Word processing software like Microsoft Word. Don’t use the latest version as it may not yet be used by those handling recruitments, rending your resume un-openable and thus, useless.
Resume Tip No. 2 – Include a no B.S. executive summary.
Job recruiters get really annoyed when they’re fed with Executive Summaries that are VAGUE. The Executive Summary must answer the question on why you are the best candidate for the job. The best resume layout for this would be to enumerate your skills in a bulleted list. Each skill should be written so that it clearly shows how that skill makes you a perfect fit for the job vacancy in particular, and the company in general.
Resume Tip No. 3 – Do NOT lie.
Who doesn’t embellish his resume to get that job interview? That’s true… but don’t exaggerate to the point of lying either. For instance, you know that figures are great in resumes, but don’t say “Managed a $50 million dollar publishing project…” if it you cannot back up that figure. Don’t forget that job recruiters, especially for managerial and executive positions, really do check up with previous employers.
Resume Tip No. 4 – What about online resumes?
A great resume tip that doesn’t cost anything at all is to view sample online resumes! There’s a lot of information out there for different types of resumes with samples to boot so do give them a try. Apart from free samples, there are also ready-to-use online resume templates you can purchase where all you need to do is just ‘fill out the blanks’. If you opt for this, just ensure that the template really fits your resume needs.
Resume Tip No. 5 – Hire a professional resume writer.
When all else fails, or if you don’t have the time, or the job is simply too important that you want to go in with your BEST chance at landing a job interview, then by all means, get the services of a professional resume writer. Not everybody is blessed with having that special way with words so a professional CV writer can definitely help you. Note too that such a person can help you ‘smooth out’ some job history problems you may have such as employment gaps or ‘job hopping’ trends (i.e., moving from one job to another in relative short periods of time).
When it comes top writing resumes, you should always put your best foot forward so you get called for that job interview. Hopefully, the resume tips we’ve provided here helps you achieve exactly that.