Resumes: Passing the Time Test!

Recently, one of my business associates was interested in hiring a part-time receptionist for a very modest salary, so he placed an ad on Craigslist. Within a few hours, he had already received more than a hundred resumes. In today’s competitive job market, such an overwhelming response to a job posting is typical. As the person who would be reviewing those resumes and selecting candidates to interview, my friend was significantly stressed by the amount of work that lay ahead of him. If he spent only five minutes reviewing each resume, he was looking at a project that would consume at least eight hours of valuable time.

This real-life example definitely sheds a light on one of the challenges that today’s job seekers must overcome. Hiring managers do not have time to spend five minutes reviewing each resume that comes across their desks. In fact, you’re lucky if your resume holds the interest of an HR professional for more than a minute. Knowing this, you must create a resume that will grab the attention of a potential employer in a matter of seconds. Your resume must pique the interest of the employer and offer a compelling reason for the employer to read further and ultimately pick up the phone and schedule an interview.

Do not under estimate the value of visual appeal and readability. Your resume must be easy to read quickly. Be careful as you select the size and style of font to use. Pay attention to the page layout as well. Do not fill your resume with so much text that there isn’t enough white space on the page. Our eyes respond to both positive and negative space, and paying attention to both is important.

Be careful not to bury critical skills and experience. Too often, job seekers attempt to include too much information in their resumes, and as a result key information ends up buried and difficult to find. Your strongest and most marketable skills must appear near the top of the resume. I recommend constructing a professional summary which truly highlights the knowledge, skills, and abilities which set you apart from every other candidate and placing this section at the very top of the resume. Remember, employers are most interested in what you bring to the table and your track record of success.

Finally, test your resume! Hand your resume to a friend and give them the opportunity to review it for 10 to 30 seconds, then take it away or turn it over. Then ask your friend to tell you what he or she remembers. If your friend cannot list three or four critical details, chances are your resume will not make the grade in the hands of an employer.

Your resume is your primary marketing tool in a job market that becomes more and more competitive every day. A good resume will convey a positive, professional image that leaves the employer wanting to know more. A GREAT resume will convey this message in a matter of seconds.

Your Resume: A Play in Two Acts

For most of us, writing a new resume is a daunting task. The prospect of whittling five to ten years of work history down to one or two pages of text leaves many of us suffering from a healthy dose of writer's block. Deciding what to highlight and what to discard can also be confusing, especially when you are feeling the pressures of unemployment. You may begin to believe that your very life depends on writing a great resume. Here's some practical advice for writing a great resume.

Divide and Conquer
One very simple approach to determining what to include in a resume is to think of your resume in two sections: Assertions and Evidence. Your assertions are the claims or promises you make to a potential employer. Think of this as your sales pitch, explaining to the hiring manager exactly what you have to offer the company or organization. Are you an excellent communicator? Do you have stellar computer skills? Have you been described as the "PowerPoint Guru?" What knowledge, skills, and abilities are you selling to the employer?

The evidence portion of the resume is the proof that you have practical work experience and that you've actually used your knowledge, skills, and abilities in the workplace. Perhaps you received an award for outstanding customer service. Maybe you were solely responsible for managing a group of accounts. You might have even managed specific projects or supervised other employees.

As you are writing your resume, you will find that the assertions and evidence will overlap and intermingle. You will not format your resume in such a way that the assertions and evidence are in separate sections of the document. However, as you're considering what information to include in the resume, identifying each item as an "assertion" or "evidence" is a good check to make sure the information actually belongs in the resume.

With a little brainstorming and pre-writing work, you can craft a resume that truly sets you apart from all the other job seekers.
Best of luck!

Jerome Imhoff
jerome@TheResumeShopINK.com

Interview Tip: Don't Do Desperate

As a recruiter for a staffing agency for five years, I've had the opportunity to interview more job seekers than I can count. You can imagine that I've seen and heard it all--the good, the bad, and the ugly, as it were. Interviewing for a job has a way of placing the "interviewee" in an awkward situation, a sort of suspended animation or parallel universe. As the job seeker, you truly want to make a good impression and sell yourself, but you cannot help but feel a certain degree of anxiety because you KNOW you are being scrutinized.

Because I worked for a staffing agency that placed associates on temporary assignments, I had the opportunity to meet with certain job seekers on a pretty regular basis. I had a wonderful opportunity to observe the professional development of some of these associates. I watched as they grew in confidence and honed their presentation skills. Many times, I became a valuable resource for offering coaching and advice. I remember one such experience vividly.

I'll call this job seeker "Denise" to protect the innocent. Denise was likable, talented, and had a solid work ethic. She was the type of employee who would hit the ground running and roll up her sleeves to get a job done. But sadly, she wasn't having any success finding a job. She called one afternoon and asked if she could drop by my office to chat in hopes that I could give her some advice to help he be a bit more successful. I invited her to come in.

The moment she sat down and began talking, I diagnosed the problem Denise was desperate. She really needed to work. She was afraid that if she didn't find a job soon, she would be homeless. She was eager to find a job--too eager! She told me that she was getting calls for interviews and that she "really sold herself in those interviews." But, she never got called back for a second interview and never received a job offer.

Job interviews are like blind dates. While it's important to be enthusiastic and convey a sense of interest in the job, you want to avoid being too eager. "Needy" is never attractive. The line between honest excitement and positive energy and truly desperate is so fine that we can easily step over that line without even knowing it. If you've ever been on a blind date, you know what I mean. You have to know just how much selling to do.

Here are some valuable tips for selling--but not overselling!
1) Match the energy level of the person conducting the interview. Take that energy level up "one notch" but don't be "over the top." The interviewer will find you exhausting.
2) Answer the interviewer's questions thoughtfully and completely and then SHUT UP! Don't go on and on. Watch the interviewer's body language. If you see a glazed over look in the eyes, quit while you are ahead.
3) Keep the interview conversational. Be natural. Be yourself.
4) Don't do desperate. Convey interest in the opportunity. Be enthusiastic. But, never let the interviewer know that you desperately need a job.

In a nutshell, play a little "hard to get." Convey an air of confidence that says "I'm interested in this opportunity. But, I have other opportunities that are just as interesting!" With some work, you can go from being a "Desperate Denise" to a "Confident Connie."

Best of luck!