Can Your Resume

Avoid the

Black

Hole?

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Marketing Document

Promote YOU !

Intrigue — Capture reader above the fold (top 1/3 of 1st page)

Sell it ! Don’t tell it.

— modesty’s not effective approach

Focus — Showcaseachievements &skills specific to position sought

Don’t Lie !

Ronald ZarrellaBausch & Lomb CEODidn’t earn MBAFORFEITED $1.1M BONUS

Scott Thompson

Yahoo! CEODidn’t earn

BS-Computer Science

BOARD FORCED OUT

Hiring Managers

Receive 50-500 resumes per position

Review resume in 5-10 seconds

Long Line of Applicants

Competition’s Fierce

Showcase your personal brand, achievements and value

Remain compelling, concise and focused

List RESULTS not responsibilities

Use keywords & buzzwords

Start with Blank Slate

Type Career Achievements

CAR Stories — Challenge, Action, Result Quantify — $, %, #

Use in highlights & work experience sections

Stay on Course

Achievements / experience relevant to position sought

Not too little / too much information

Mall Corp. needs a technical writer. Courtney’s a software developer. Should she apply?

TARGET your job search

Tenicia sums up her objective and expertise

Seeking a search engine

optimization position in the

banking industry where I

can utilize my SEO skills

and 10 years’ experience

to increase Website traffic

and search engine

placement.

 Professionally committed

and responsible. Meet

challenges head on.

Word

y&

Vague

Title + ProfileSEO Strategist / Director

10+ years’ success in

banking SEO and online

marketing. Routinely

ranked in Top 5 for

competitive key words in

Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Increased online customer

engagement and qualified

Website traffic 40-200%

for several firms.

Achievements Front and

Center

Define Expertise

Add skills under profile

Specific to position sought

Pull from job description

Umar’s a Senior Lending Officer• Credit Portfolio

• Asset Restructuring

• Risk Assessment /

Underwriting

• Regulatory

Compliance

• Lender Liability

Minimization

• Financial Analysis

Leadership Achievments

Acquisitions : Led team to develop RFP – >$100M Enterprise Pre-D Recording Service to National Reconnaissance Office as SETA at SAIC. Contract Management : Slashed budget from $150M to $105M by improving staffing and technology efficiencies for EPRS as Lead SETA for SDDS programs at General Dynamics.

Or CAR Statement

Challenge : Resolve operational performance—high costs and productivity bottlenecks in travel division. Action : Streamlined processes, realigned key personnel, and re-engineered banking functions by establishing relationship with high-tech bank.

Result : Improved customer service while slashing invoicing and collection costs—from 10% to <5% and $5M. Volume grew to $30M, reducing ratio even further.

Don’t

Burn

Out

So Far — Compelling !

Responsible for restaurant staffing needs and recruitment.

Responsible for food concessions —sales and payment system.

Career Experience

Director of Human Resourcesand Operations

Boooring

Highlight Results !

Secured a group of motivated general employees who were paid 15% less by law.

Cut additional labor costs from 28% to 20%, significantly increasing net profits to investors.

Increased concession sales 22% to $2.5M by re-engineering food service stations and fast response payment system.

Add a Testimonial

Pull from performance evaluations or recommendation letters

Philippe Martine, MDCharleston VA Hospital

Ben showed initiative as our head nurse. He

redesigned our walk-through and time-keeping systems, saving both manhour and

billing costs.

What’s Wrong ? Directly under Heading

EDUCATIONMA – Clinical Psychology, Case University, St. Louis, MO 1994- Successfully managed the demands of working full time while

carrying a full time graduate school course load. - Senior thesis project : Organizational behavior—How can Barnes & Noble and Amazon co-exist?

- Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society

BA – Management, Florida State University, Tallahassee 1990- Developed Telemedicine System as member of Florida Neurological Institute team- Noles Daily Photography, Editor- Member women’s tennis team

Education Not Top Appeal

MA – Clinical Psychology, Case University, St. Louis, MO 1994- Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society

BA – Management, Florida State University, Tallahassee 1990

Alyssa’s Worked 18 Years

Degrees no longer top selling point. Move to the end —unless required in job listing.

And Here? CAREERSoftware Development Lead 1986-1990Raytheon Seattle, WA

Software Developer 1984-1986Microsoft Seattle, WA

Computer Programmer 1980-1984IBM Seattle, WA

Administrative Assistant 1977-1980Gulf Oil Fairbanks, AK

EDUCATIONBS – Computer Science Duke University, Chapel Hill, NC 1976

Ageism Exists

Show only 10-15 years’ work experience

List prior experience without dates or responsibility bullets

No dates for college

Plus 1st job not relevant to career path

Is This Relevant ?

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The Salvation ArmyServe as mentor for the Team in Training program, which recruits persons to raise funds while preparing as a group for marathon. Led 15 persons to instruct and assist with meeting their fundraising goals.

Wharton Civic AssociationFundraising Committee – Preparing events for tree planting and playground projects. Held dinner with silent auction and 50-50 raffle.

PERSONAL

Married with 3 children. Enjoy hiking and reading.

Don’t Waste Space

Showcase your career qualifications

Certifications, technical skills, professional memberships, awards & publications

All illegal — social affiliations, age, marital / family status, nationality, disabilities & medical conditions

Career Knocked

Off Course?

Avoid Gaps

Out of work for a while?

List courses, volunteer, related temp jobs

Back to school?

Place at top or within work history

Page 2 not always read

HONESTY is BEST

State why

Laid off or let go?

Contract not renewedCompany relocated to

NY

Left the workforce?

Assisted terminal parent

Raised child for 3 years

Ample white space

Modern fonts Arial, Helvetica, Calibri

Traditional fonts Times, Century, Palatino Font size 11 / 12 points

Usual techniques Bold, italics, ALL CAPITALS

Bullets

Simple lines

Minimal use

Format Strategies

Viola

Electronic Resume

Title & key words in job posting

.txt file extension, unformatted ASCII

Sans serif font

Left justify all

text

Use symbols to replace bullets or create lines — — —

Strip Formatting

- bold, italics, underline - bullets - tabs - tables - text boxes - page breaks - page numbers

E-mailing Resume

Follow ad’s instructions

Word preferred over pdf (if not .txt)

Name

“FullName_Resume.docx” Helps recruiter file & find it Subject line, your

name & ad’s position

Body, paste

resume Attach resume &

cover letter

Resume Strategies

… for specific

career situations,

see presentation

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Resume

BLAST

OFF !

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