Crafting Your Resume? It’s All About Image
As a career consultant, I review scores of resumes. They are intended as the ‘best foot forward’ of bright, experienced business professionals -- yet, all too often they are mediocre at best. Why? They recreate work history without the slightest attention to the image they convey.
A resume is much more than your work history. It paints a picture, or image, of you for the hiring manager. Every title, phrase and verb you use causes a potential employer to make assumptions about you that either detract from, or add to, your image.
A strong image not only gets you an interview, it sets the tone for the interview conversation. When a hiring manager interviews someone with a strong image, they focus on strengths; when they interview an individual with a weaker image, they focus on the gaps. No less important, a strong image has a significant bottom-line impact: it creates a case for a higher, rather than lower, salary.
First, A Strategic Decision
The type of resume you choose -- chronological vs.
skills-based--is a key consideration. Recruiters and
hiring managers strongly prefer chronological resumes as the
perception is you are trying to hide something by using the
skills-based (also called 'functional') approach.
Once you make this strategic decision, use these five image-building tips:
1. Use titles that BEST enhance your image. Job titles are subjective from company to company. If your job titles are strong, such as Director or Vice-President, use them; if you’re job titles are weaker, you may make substitutions−as long as they accurately reflect the job you performed. For example, use “Global Product Developer” as opposed to “Product Developer” (if, in fact, your scope was global). Which sounds stronger to you?
2. Always remember you are marketing yourself. Like any good marketer, ask “Who is my target audience and what do they want to hear?” If you are responding to a job ad, take your cue from it and use the same descriptive words that appear in the ad. Avoid shot-gunning all of your qualifications in hopes of snowing the reader – it can be quite counterproductive.
3. Use specific details (numbers and percentages) and accomplishments to enhance your image. Other strong accomplishments include significant people you’ve interacted with, your scope of responsibility, awards and honors received, and P&L or budget accountability.
4. Don’t be shy. If you did something once, you did it. For example, if you managed even one project overseas, you are a global manager. Or, as in Lisa’s case, if you temporarily held an “acting head” role, you have that leadership experience under your belt. This is not to encourage dishonesty (more and more resumes are being fact-checked all the time) -- this is about owning your accomplishments – even if they are not evident in your job title.
5. Always use clear, action-oriented verbs and phrases. Avoid “ing” words and phrases, such as “responsible for leading” or “responsible for generating”; use just the verb instead, as in “led” or “generated”. Note how much more energetic “led Microsoft’s global market positioning effort” sounds as opposed to “responsible for developing Microsoft’s market position nationally and internationally”.
When your resume draft is complete, give it the eye path test. Do the high image items pop out? If the answer is no, target those items that lower your image and make appropriate changes.
Your resume is too critical to your job search success to take unnecessary chances. If you have not done the appropriate research or are not skilled in this arena, without question, pop the few hundred bucks to have it and a cover letter crafted correctly. In the long run, you will save considerable time and money by landing a job with greater income potential -- faster -- than by struggling alone.###
PERMISSION TO REPRINT: This article may be reprinted provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution:
© Copyright 2001-2008 PurposefulWork.com. Reprinted by permission of Patricia Soldati, an IAC certified coach, career counselor and certified professional resume writer who helps corporate professionals advance their careers. For information about her services, visit http://www.purposefulwork.com.
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PurposefulWork.com 2001-2008
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