Archive for Category: Resume Tips
Back to Basics: The 15 Most Important Resume Tips for Young Professionals
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips Resume Tips on January 25, 2012 at 9:00 am
I’m excited to announce (again!) that my book, Getting from College to Career: Your Essential Guide to Succeeding in the Real World, will be published in a brand new, fully revised second edition on January 31st!
In honor of the launch, this month I’m writing series of “back to basics” blog posts on the essentials of getting from college to career. Today I’m sharing my absolute favorite, most impactful resume tips:
1. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Particularly at the beginning of your career, it’s really hard to start your resume with a blank sheet of paper. So don’t. Check out examples of strong entry-level resumes online or at your university career center and borrow the best ideas for formatting, headings, wording and more.
2. Include key words. Employers’ eyes are naturally drawn to the words they’re looking for — the brand names, skills, and experience they need — so make sure you include these terms on your resume. And, be as specific as possible. For instance, “Experience with Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign through the production of 12 issues of on-campus magazine” is much stronger than “Design Experience.
The best way to find the right words to use is to look at online job listings for the kinds of positions you’re interested in and the LinkedIn profiles of people who have the positions you want. Then use some of the prominent words and phrases in those job listings and profiles throughout your resume.
3. Tailor your resume to each opportunity. Employers can tell when they’re seeing a generic resume that is being blasted out to anyone and everyone. It’s fine to have such a resume as a template, but then you need to customize it with different accomplishments and keywords that fit with the individual companies where you’d like to work. (One warning: if you’re sending your resume to a large corporation or posting on the recruiting website of such an organization, you will have to choose just one version.)
4. Quantify everything that’s quantifiable. “Managed a team of camp counselors” is less impressive than “Managed a staff of 12 camp counselors and 5 counselors-in-training.” Quantifying can also give life to administrative tasks: “Receptionist at a 4-doctor medical practice handling over 100 clients per day.” If your work helped to raise money or profits, then numbers are even more important: “Improved sporting equipment sales in my department by 50% in six months” or “Raised $2,000 through solicitation of alumni donations.” Quantifying shows your unique contribution to an organization and also demonstrates that you’re a person who understands the importance of measuring results.
5. Prioritize. When you list bullet points under each job on your resume (and you should always list bullet points under each job), be sure to list the most important task, accomplishment or responsibility first. It’s highly unlikely that a potential employer is going to read every bullet point under every item on your resume, but most people will read the first or second bullet point on each list. You don’t have to list accomplishments chronologically; list the most impressive first. Also note that more challenging jobs (which ideally should be your more recent jobs) should have more bullet points than less challenging work experiences.
6. Don’t forget to list internships, volunteer work and unpaid summer jobs. Just because you didn’t get paid for something doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as real experience. When including unpaid experience on your resume, emphasize the professional skills you’ve developed. Use terms such as “leadership,” “fundraising,” “public relations,” “people management,” and “budgeting” to describe your activities.
7. Note any notables. Be sure to mention anything about you that is unique and uncommon. Some examples include, “Founding president of first-ever entrepreneurial club at XYZ University,” “Winner of the Anita Lawrence Scholarship for Excellence in Social Studies, awarded to the top junior history student” (remember to explain an award if it’s not nationally known) or “Youngest person ever promoted to assistant manager at local high-end jewelry store.”
8. Don’t highlight something that you despised doing. As you can see, there are many ways to draw a reader’s eye to what you want that person to see on your resume, so avoid these strategies when you don’t want to promote something. In fact, if you’ve had a task or responsibility that you hated and never want to do again (like selling vacuums door-to-door or cleaning animal cages), then don’t include it on your resume. You can even leave off an entire job if it’s not relevant to your current job search.
9. Don’t ever lie or stretch the truth. This happens way too often, and it’s never a good idea. There are so many reasons not to lie on a resume. First of all, if your lie or truth stretching gets discovered, you’ll lose a job opportunity with that company forever. Second, if you exaggerate your skills, such as being fluent in Spanish when you really just studied it in high school, your lie will become extremely obvious the day you start your job and you lack the skills you said you had.
10. Keep it to one page. I’ve seen senior executives with one-page resumes, so I don’t see any reason why a college student or recent grad’s resume needs more than that. Remember that your resume is a marketing tool and not a transcript or a laundry list of everything you’ve ever done. By keeping your resume short and sweet, you’re demonstrating that you can edit yourself and sell yourself clearly and concisely, which are both important skills in the professional world.
11. Curb your creativity. In the vast majority of circumstances, it’s inappropriate to present your resume in any other format than a simple black font (Times New Roman, Arial, etc.) on a white background. On hard copy resumes, it is not okay to use colored paper, scented paper, colorful or creative fonts or any other bells and whistles. Recruiters, especially those in the corporate world, laugh at these attempts to stand out and immediately throw such resumes away. It’s also smart to PDF your resume to make sure your formatting looks the same on all computers (and to ensure you haven’t left any Track Changes markings — seriously, I’ve seen that happen).
12. Don’t title your resume document “resume.” This tip comes from employer Don Fornes writing on the Job Bound blog. “About a third of applicants name their resume document, ‘resume.doc.’” Don writes. “’Resume’ may make sense on your computer, where you know it’s your resume. However, on my computer, it’s one of many, many resumes with the same name…. By using such a generic file name, the applicant misses a great opportunity to brand themselves.”
13. Get professional input. As I recommended in last week’s post on the 7 essentials of a successful job search, if you can afford a professional resume writer, hire one. If you’re still in college, get a free resume critique from your college career center. If you can’t do either of these things, then ask your smartest, most successful friend or family member (ideally someone who works or has worked in your industry) for help.
14. Leave out unnecessary information. Here is what you should not include on your resume: references (an employer will request these if desired), the phrase “References upon request” (they know this), a GPA under 3.0 (click here to read my tips on how to get a job if you have a low GPA) or obvious skills (there is no longer a need to say that you know how to use Microsoft Word or Internet Explorer). You should also remove high school activities once you’re out of college.
15. Quadruple-check for any typos. Typos happen to the best of us, so be meticulous about spelling, grammar, formatting and consistency on your resume. Be especially careful with details like whether or not you end each bullet point with a punctuation mark or whether you’ve capitalized all of your job titles. Even a small typo can blow an opportunity, especially if you’ve included “excellent attention to detail” as one of your skills!
And one more bonus tip…
Make sure your resume gets read. A recruiter once told me he always has two stacks of resumes on his desk: one super tall stack of resumes that are submitted online and one very small stack of resumes sent or handed to him by a trusted friend or colleague. Of course you want to be in that smaller, more elite stack. So, always look for an “in” at a company — a friend-of-a-friend, an alum of your university, a LinkedIn connection — who believes in you and will recommend you to his or her employer. You can have the best resume in the world, but if a recruiter never sees it you’ll never get the job you want.
So, what do you think? Are there any other resume tips I should have included here? Please add your additional tips and suggestions in the Comments!
Does Your Resume “Resunate”?
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Future of Careers Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips Resume Advice Resume Tips on November 23, 2011 at 9:00 am
I recently spoke with Mona Adbel-Hailm, the co-inventor of Resunate.com, to learn more about her company’s new approach to resume creation.
In a nutshell, Resunate enables job seekers to create customized, job specific resumes. As I learned in a demo, your work experience gets screened against any job description and then indicates if you’re a strong match. Resunate then helps you improve your resume accordingly.
Here is my full conversation with Mona:
Q: Who is the team behind Resunate and why did you choose to build a business in the area of job hunting?
A: My co-founders and I met in my last semester of graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University. I became acquainted with a graduate research project, looking at different ways of applying cutting-edge technology to solve labor issues.
Our team interviewed unemployed individuals, asking them what pain points they faced. By and large, [they said] it was the time-consuming process of applying to jobs and tailoring their resumes that frustrated job seekers the most. From there, we spoke with hiring managers and HR directors to learn how they processed job applications. We discovered that employers utilize numerous kinds of technologies to screen candidates. We keep updating the product based on user feedback and testing new features against employer screening systems.
Q: Are job seekers having success with Resunate?
A: Our most recent study showed that resumes pre-screened with Resunate were two times more likely to be called back for an interview than a candidate’s original resume.
Q: Congratulations! One of the things I learned from our conversation is about the importance of resume parsers. Can you explain what a “parser” is and why job candidates need to know about this?
A: A parser is a tool within every applicant tracking system (ATS) that scans your resume and breaks up the words into a searchable database, removing all styling. The parser also assigns meaning to the content within your resume. This is important for candidates to know because the way you format your resume can affect how easy it is to scan and how much an employer sees.
Additionally, parsers provide employers a synopsis of your key skills when they scan your resume. That’s why it’s so important to have your resume format optimized for these scanning systems.
The greatest way to ensure you have a parser-friendly resume is to build well-organized resumes with as much relevant content to each job you apply to. This ensures the skills employers are looking for are the ones the parser will highlight.
Q: What are the biggest mistakes entry-level job seekers make on their resumes and what can they do to fix them?
A: The biggest mistake is sending out cookie-cutter resumes to every position. This undersells the job seeker and places that resume in the shredder pile. The easiest way entry-level job seekers can improve this is to pay attention to the job description and how they can contribute. Employers want to know how you’ll impact their organization.
Q: How do you see Resunate benefiting employers?
A: We launched a free widget for employers to utilize Resunate as a no-cost professional recruiting solution that enables employers to request applicants to screen themselves against their job opening before applying. Resunate helps employers save time by focusing on the most relevant experiences.
Q: This is all very cool and different. What’s on the horizon for Resunate?
A: We have many new features coming out, all with the goal of providing job seekers more insight into how employers evaluate their job application. One feature will be a “Parser Report” providing job seekers the exact information employers see, in partnership with the parser used by most job boards and Fortune 500 companies.
Another feature is in collaboration with the makers of the Myers Briggs® assessment. This feature, JobFit, will enable job seekers to verify their personality type and their natural work style preferences with Myers Briggs® to gauge job satisfaction, adding a whole new dimension to Resunate.
Thank you to Mona for answering my questions and sharing Resunate with us. Learn more at http://www.resunate.com.
The Single Most Important Resume Item
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Internships Job Search Tips Resume Advice Resume Tips on October 8, 2010 at 5:53 pm
I recently moderated a panel discussion of prominent CEOs from three very different industries — professional services, social media and nonprofit. While they each gave excellent advice to the students in the audience who were interested in their particular fields, the CEOs all came together on one key point:
All employers in all industries are seeking one major resume item: leadership.
Why is leadership so important?
Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…
The Most Important Career Growth Tip
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Networking Advice Resume Advice Resume Tips Social Media on June 17, 2010 at 9:27 am
A few days ago I received an email from a colleague who serves with me on a nonprofit board.
“Does anyone know where I can get Mets/Yankees tickets?”
I knew (Stubhub.com!), so I responded right away.
Later that day I was desperately trying to remember the name of a website I’d recently heard about where you can find out which social media sites have your username available. After racking my brain, I decided to tweet the question. Within three minutes I had the answer (www.namechk.com).
On another occasion recently, I was trying to make a decision about hiring a branding expert. After researching all over the web and feeling more confused and frustrated than ever, I decided to reach out to three business owners I trusted and ask for their opinions and referrals. Their advice was invaluable and I was able to finally make my decision.
All of these situations reminded me of the most important career growth tip you can learn: Ask for help when you need it. There are vast resources available to you. The only catch is that you have to reach out for help — no person or search engine or social network will know you need help until you request it.
If you’re having trouble figuring out your career passion, reach out to your university’s career center for an alumni appointment by phone or in person. (They are often free!)
If you’re unsure whether your resume accurately represents your skills, ask a few trusted friends or colleagues to review it.
If you’re scared to attend a networking event alone, ask a friend to join you.
If you can’t figure out how to ask for a raise, go out and buy a negotiation book or hire a career coach to role play the salary negotiation until you’re comfortable.
If you can’t decide what printer to buy, ask your Facebook friends for recommendations.
Websites, books, blogs, Twitter feeds, LinkedIn Answers, career centers, coaches, friends and family members all have a wealth of knowledge and advice to share with you. Next time you face any career question, large or small, ask for help sooner rather than later.
Bonus tip: The Second Most Important Career Growth Tip is to give back as much help as you receive.
Guest Post: Gen Y, Body-Build Your Resumes!
Posted in Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Internship Advice Internships Job Search Tips Recommended Career Resources Resume Advice Resume Tips Social Media on June 16, 2009 at 11:33 am
Today I’m pleased to share a guest post from Chris Perry, a Gen Y Brand and Marketing Generator, a Career Search and Personal Branding Expert and the Founder of Career Rocketeer, the Career Search and Personal Branding Blog.
Whether you know it or not, we Gen Yers have a competitive edge over older job seekers in the career search. We are less expensive to hire, we are more impressionable (not having already settled into one company culture or way of doing things), and we have grown up with ever-changing technology, having become fast learners as a result.
However, the major obstacle that we encounter in our career search keeping us from getting the job is our lack of previous “real-world” work experience. Especially considering the current economic situation, this is not the issue you want to run into when you graduate and suddenly realize that it’s too late to go back in time and fill in your resume.
Whether or not you know what you want to do in your full-time career, I can’t begin to impress upon you the importance of gaining as much experience as possible during your high school, college and grad school careers. Experience is experience, even if it is not directly related to the job you are applying for.
Start now and “body-build” your resume while you have the time and the opportunity to set yourself up for the career of your dreams. I also recommend that you sign up with LinkedIn so you can show off your “heavyweight” resume online!
“How can I body-build my resume?” you might ask. Here are six ways all Gen Yers can gain more valuable leadership and professional experiences and skills: (more…)
Tags: Career Rocketeer, Chris Perry
My interview on the Personal Branding Blog
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Job Search Tips LinkedIn Networking Advice Networking and Personal Branding Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources Resume Advice Resume Tips Social Media on February 25, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Many thanks to Dan Schawbel for interviewing me on his Personal Branding Blog.
Here is an excerpt:
Dan: When you go to speak to students across the country, how have you accessed their proficiency in job searching and resume building through online means? Most students I talk to don’t know what LinkedIn is. What are your experiences?
Lindsey: A year or so ago, very few students I met had even heard of LinkedIn. Today, I’d say about 1/4 of students at my workshops are aware of the site, but most don’t really know how to make the most of it. I believe that an active presence on LinkedIn is no longer optional for a career-minded person of any age, so I talk about it in every speech and workshop I give.
1. First, I advise students (and everyone else!) to set up a complete profile including keywords a recruiter or business owner might use to find someone with your skills and interests.
2. Then I recommend joining groups on LinkedIn (such as the Personal Branding group, of course) to build connections and become part of conversations about industry news.
3. Third, I recommend customizing those little “I’d like to add you as a connection” messages – that’s a great way to stand out and show that you are someone who takes the time to personalize your communications.
Another important tip, particularly for those who are just starting out in the workforce, is to scour other people’s LinkedIn profiles to look for companies you may want to apply to, job titles or professions you didn’t know about, professional organizations where you might network and people with similar interests who might be willing to offer some job search advice. If you’re trying to build your own personal brand, LinkedIn is incredibly valuable as a massive database of other people’s personal brands and career paths to research.
Career Q&A: How to make your resume stand out in a crowd
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Job Hunting Advice Job Interview Advice Job Search Tips Networking Advice Networking and Personal Branding Personal Branding Resume Advice Resume Tips on February 12, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Q: I’ve been applying for jobs since September and have not been called for a single interview. I’ve taken my resume to Career Services for a review and some tips, but still nothing. How can I make my resume stand out in a crowd?
A: You’ve taken the right first step, which is having an expert — in your case, career services — review your resume and make sure it’s the best it can be. However, having a good resume is not enough these days. Employers are being bombarded with resumes, so the real way to stand out is to promote yourself beyond sending in a resume. You have to go the extra mile to get noticed.
Depending on your situation and the types of jobs you’re applying for, here are some suggestions: (more…)
Find your dream job: 12 career resolutions for 2009
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips Personal Branding Resume Advice Resume Tips Social Media on December 28, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Reminder: I’m now answering job search and career questions as Career Contributor for ABC News on Campus. Submit your question here.
Every day is a new beginning, but a new calendar year offers a particularly great opportunity for fresh starts. This year more than ever, career-minded people are craving new opportunities and new strategies to carry out in January and beyond.
As you think about your plans and goals for 2009, here are 12 career-related resolutions to consider adding to your list.
1. I will do one thing every day to find a job or advance my career. Spend some time every day, even just five minutes, researching potential employers, reading advice articles, following up with people you’ve met, practicing for interviews or doing anything else to help your career prospects. Keep moving forward. Momentum matters.
2. I will update my resume once a month. Especially in an economic downturn, your resume needs to be ready to send at a moment’s notice. Make a note in your calendar to review this important document once a month to be sure it sells your skills and experience in the best possible way.
3. I will regularly review my online presence. While you’re keeping your resume up-to-date, review your online professional presence as well. Google your own name and make sure the results reflect the image you want to project. Many organizations are now relying on social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook for recruiting, so it’s quite likely your next employer will review your online profile before seeing your official resume.
Guest expert: Brad Karsh, president of JobBound
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Resume Advice Resume Tips on October 17, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Today I’m featuring a guest blog post from Brad Karsh, president of JobBound, a company dedicated to helping job seekers with resume writing, interviewing, career coaching and landing that dream job. Author of Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Insider’s Guide to Landing Your First Job (Prentice Hall Press), Brad is considered one of the nation’s leading expert on the job search. Prior to starting JobBound, Brad worked for 15 years at Leo Burnett advertising in Chicago. While at Burnett, Brad evaluated more than 10,000 resumes, interviewed more than 1,000 candidates and hired hundreds of new employees.
This is the number one mistake most college students make. They simply describe what anyone in their position (internship, leadership, or extracurricular) did, as opposed to what they specifically accomplished. If what is written in a resume can be written by the person who did the job before, with, or after you, then you haven’t done yourself justice. Resumes need to be infused with numbers, accomplishment and specificity.
Every student includes them, but are they really necessary? At this point, putting down that you know how to use Microsoft Word is a bit like putting down that you know how to dial a phone. One out of ten students also put that they are familiar with the Internet! Wow…impressive.
Laminated resumes shaped like a menu just tell the recruiting director that there isn’t a lot of substance in the content.
Top 13 resume tips for college students and young professionals
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Communication Skills Job Hunting Advice Resume Advice Resume Tips on September 6, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Thank you to Brad Karsh of JobBound for alerting me to the fact that September is International Make Over Your Resume Month (seriously!). In honor of this occasion, here are my top 13 resume tips for college students and young professionals, adapted from my book, Getting from College to Career:
1. Be careful with contact info. Every phone number or email address you put on your resume could be used by a potential employer. Make sure you have complete control and 24/7 access to any communication method you list. And make sure that email address is professional!
2. Include an objective statement if it’s not totally clear what kind of job you want. An objective statement gives the person reading your resume an overview of how to read the skills and experience listed below it. Since most people don’t spend a lot of time reading a resume, you’re basically offering them a way to focus their attention on the information you want them to know about you. Don’t assume recruiters will read your resume and find a place for you. It’s your job to show them what you want to do.
3. Tweak your resume for different jobs and industries. It’s very likely that you will be applying for jobs in a variety of different companies and even different industries. Employers can tell when they are seeing a generic resume that is being blasted out to anyone and everyone. It’s fine to have such a resume as a template, but then you need to customize that resume with a different objective statement and different keywords that fit with the individual companies to which you’re sending it. Which leads us to…
4. Include keywords. Not only will online job sites search for keywords on your resume, but so will potential employers. Employers’ eyes are naturally drawn to the words they’re looking for—the brand names, skills, and experience they need. So make sure you give them what they want. You can have the exact experience an employer is seeking, but if it’s not presented on your resume in the words they’re looking for, you’re out of luck.
The best way to find the right words to use is to look at online job listings for the kinds of positions you’re interested in. Then, use some of the prominent words and phrases in those job listings on your resume—in your objective statement and in your experience section, if it’s relevant and true. For instance, instead of “Basic Accounting,” the more descriptive “Balance Sheet Accounting” is better. “Experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign” is much stronger than “Design Experience.”
5. List your GPA only if it’s 3.0 or higher. If your overall GPA is lower than 3.0, but your GPA in your major is over 3.0, then list “Major GPA” on your resume. Feel free to list both, of course, if they both qualify. I know that not listing a GPA at all implies that you had a low one, but that’s okay. Just be prepared to discuss why your grades were less than stellar if the subject comes up in a job interview. And, if you’re still a student, try to boost your grades up above that 3.0 mark—it can make a big difference in your job search.
6. Quantify everything. Make sure your resume is as specific as possible. “Managed a team of camp counselors” is less impressive than “Managed a staff of 12 camp counselors and 5 counselors-in-training.” If your work helped to raise money or profits, that’s super-important as well. Employers love to see resumes with phrases like, “Improved sporting equipment sales in my department by 50% in six months” or “Raised $10,000 through solicitation of alumni donations.”
7. Prioritize. When you list bullet points under each job, internship, or volunteer experience you’ve had, be sure to list the most important task, accomplishment, or responsibility first. It’s highly unlikely that a potential employer is going to read every bullet point under every item on your resume, bust most people will read the first or second bullet point on each list. You don’t have to list accomplishments chronologically; list the most impressive first.
8. List internships, volunteer work, and summer jobs. Just because you didn’t get paid for something doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as real experience. Be honest about what each situation entailed (duties, responsibilities, and time commitment), but definitely include them.
9. Note anything notable. Be sure to list anything about you that is particularly unique, uncommon or memorable. For example, “Founding president of first ever entrepreneurial club at XYZ University” or “youngest person ever promoted to assistant manager at this local high-end jewelry store.”
10. Don’t highlight something on your resume that you despised doing. As you can see, there are many ways to draw a reader’s eye to what you want that person to see on your resume. So avoid these strategies when you don’t want to promote something. In fact, if you’ve had a task or responsibility that you hated and never want to do again as long as you live (like selling vacuums door-to-door or cleaning animal cages), then don’t include it on your resume. You can even leave off an entire job if it’s not relevant to your current job search.
11. Don’t lie, exaggerate, or stretch the truth. This happens way too often, and it’s never a good idea. There are so many reasons not to lie on a resume. First of all, if your lie or truth-stretching gets discovered, you’ll lose a job opportunity with that company forever. Second, if you exaggerate your skills, such as being fluent in Spanish when you really just studied it in high school, your lie will become extremely obvious the day you start your job and you lack the skills you said you had. And finally, any little white lies you put on your resume now can cost you big later in your career. Even if the lie is discovered 20 years in the future, it can tarnish your entire professional reputation. I definitely encourage you to cast your skills and experience in the most positive light, but never, ever take it too far.
12. Keep it to one page. Some people will fight me on this, but I’ve seen senior executives with one-page resumes, so I don’t see any reason why a college student or recent grad’s resume needs more than that. Remember that your resume is a marketing tool and not a transcript or exhaustive laundry list of everything you’ve ever done. By keeping your resume short and sweet, you’re demonstrating that you can edit yourself and sell yourself clearly and concisely—both important skills in the processional world, especially if you want a job related to writing, sales, or marketing.
13. Leave off references. Potential employers will request a list of references if they want one. Don’t waste precious space on your resume with something unnecessary at this point.
I could go on and on, but following the above tips should improve your resume to the point where it represents you in the strongest way possible and differentiates you from other entry-level job seekers.
Finally, remember that a resume is a constant work in progress, so add updates whenever you gain new experience or skills, and keep your eyes and ears open for additional tips and tactics to make your resume a document you’re proud to send as the paper version of you.
