Copyright 1993 by Susanna Hutcheson-Dennett. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced, reprinted or published without expressed permission of the author. Direct inquiries to Susanna Hutcheson-Dennett (CIS ID 71221,1511) (Phone 316-684-0457). HOW TO WRITE A RESUME THAT OPENS DOORS Tips From the Experts by Susanna K. Hutcheson Your resume can open the door to a job or quickly shut it. A good resume is a marketing tool designed to get you an interview. But if it's not prepared correctly your chances of successful job hunting will be greatly reduced. The competition for most jobs is keen. Todays job market is tight and the interviews go to the people who present themselves as problem solvers. Unfortunately, most resumes don't show whether a person is a problem solver or not and, as a result, many qualified applicants don't get interviews. How important are resumes? Amalia Sferidis, manager of the Burlingame, California branch of Snelling and Snelling, one of the largest employment services in the U.S., thinks they are very important indeed. She says a resume can show an employer how accurate or detail oriented an applicant is. In addition, she points out it can show how creative a person is. "I'm finding more and more that resumes are real important," she says. "The resume tells a lot about a person before you actually meet them." So here are some valuable ways to make your resume say some impressive things about you. What Prospective Employers Look for in a Resume Richard H. Beatty is the author of 'The Resume Kit' and 'The Perfect Cover Letter'. He points out that employers need to know all about the conditions under which a prospective employee is now and has been working. This information will help employers to evaluate how well you will fit in to their organization. "Because of downsizing, there is much emphasis today on productivity," he offers. That means that employers are looking for people who need less time to be trained. He adds, "They need to find people who can hit the ground running." So prospective employers want to find this information on your resume. You should describe the size of the company for which you are working and those for which you have worked in the past. In addition, you should describe the products those companies made or sold and its target markets. You need to show how you fit in to the process and what you did for the company. You also should show how well you did your job. This gives prospective employers valuable information that will help them select you for an interview. Show Your Accomplishments Probably no one single thing is more important to a successful resume than accomplishments. Martin Yate, who has written three of the best selling career books in America including 'Resumes That Knock 'em Dead' and 'Cover Letters That Knock 'em Dead', says that too many people put the emphasis on credentials to the exclusion of their contributions. For example, many people show the degrees they've earned and awards they've received but fail to show how they made a contribution to their employer. The resume doesn't describe how the applicant made a difference to the employer. Says Yate, "There are people who cause problems in business and there are people who solve problems in business. The people who get the jobs are the ones who show themselves to be problem solvers." He points out that applicants should put their credentials on their resume but they should follow that up with what they've done with those credentials. People with credentials who show no achievements on their resumes tend to appear lazy and employers see that as a way to screen people out. Some Important Do's and Don'ts 1.Don't Include a Job Objective. Tom Jackson, author of 'The Perfect Resume," advises that you put your job objective in your cover letter, not the resume. "Most people, when they write the objective statement, either keep it so broad that it doesn't mean anything or so specific that it cuts them out," he says. Most experts suggest you start the resume with a very brief summary of your skills and experience and what you're capable of doing. Martin Yate says, "We don't want the first thing that an employer sees from us to be a string of demands." According to Yate, most objectives tend to be just that. He says if you do use an objective you should state it in two or three sentences and tell how you intend to contribute to a company. 2. Don't Make Your Resume Too Long. The experts all agree on absolutely no more than two pages and preferably one or one and a half. Martin Yate, who has done career consulting, reads many resumes. He gives an example of why one young persons resume didn't get read. "His resume was four pages long," explains Yate. "The paragraphs averaged four and a half inches. It was like big black masses of type." When the young man asked Yate what he thought of his resume he replied, "I didn't read it." Yate says that when an employer is reading hundreds of resumes the lengthy resume will be "trashed." So think of the reader when you prepare your resume. 3. Do Use Resume Software If Possible. There are a number of excellent software packages available to help you prepare an excellent resume. Furthermore, you can change your resume easily and prepare as many as you need. 4. Don't Include a Personal or Optional Section Unless It Will Be of Value. Never include your marital status or race or any other such information. Not only is it dangerous for you to do so but it can be dangerous to a prospective employer as well. As Martin Yate asserts, "By putting these things on a resume in advance you're shooting yourself in the foot." He says that when this type of information is seen on resumes they are often trashed immediately because companies don't want to have resumes in their files that could make the employer look as if they discriminate against any group or individual. The only time a personal section is useful is if you're applying for a high visibility job in the community. Then it might look good if you play golf or belong to certain organizations. These things could indicate you are outgoing and able to make deals outside the office, perhaps on the golf course. In addition, on occasion, certain activities can tell a bit about you. For example, if you play on a softball team you're probably a team player. If you ride a bike you're probably determined. In other words, sometimes these activities will disclose information about your behavior and reveal what an employer might expect of you in terms of your professional life. But such information should only be provided sparingly and when appropriate, when it will benefit you. Another bit of personal information that should not be included concerns smoking. While many people prefer to work where no one smokes and many employers prefer non-smokers, it's not wise to put this information on your resume. The time to discuss this is when you get a job offer. 5. Don't Include References. In fact, it's advised that you don't even use the old standard "References Available Upon Request." The employer assumes that you have references and if you get an interview you may be asked for them at that time. Until then, however, don't offer them. 6. Don't Send Up Red Flags. There are certain things that will immediately put the resume reader off and cause your resume not to be read. A resume that is too long is an example. Misspelled words also send up a red flag and make you look bad. Poor grammar is another offender. But there are others. Tom Jackson says the resume is a sales statement. He points out that a resume with lots of "holes" in it sends up red flags. For example, if you have worked for fifteen years but for two of those years you traveled Europe your resume will show a gap of two years. You need to explain in your resume what happened in those two years. A prospective employer wants to know why you weren't working. The way to handle such a problem, according to Jackson, is to use the functional resume since it organizes your information by function, not by time. Therefore, the gaps are much less evident. Another red flag goes up when an employer sees the resume of an applicant who has had a number of jobs for short periods of time. While having a number of jobs for short periods can mean you're upwardly mobile and are progressing in your field, it can also send up a red flag and you should avoid it. You can explain your reasons for switching jobs so often when you get the job interview. But your resume should cover up "job hopping." As with the person with gaps in his or her career, a functional resume, according to Martin Yate, would be best for a job hopper. You want to avoid dates as much as possible and you can do that with a functional resume. Red flags are anything that might cause an employer to be suspicious or concerned. That's why it's so important to know how to create the right kind of resume. Resume Scanning...Wave of the Future While not in wide spread use currently, the use of computer scanning software and not human eyes to read resumes and screen people in or out is fast approaching. Martin Yate believes many companies will use this method in two or three years. So a few words about it. Some companies get around 3,000 resumes a week. As a result there is a move to computer scanning. That will change the way some resumes should be written. So you need to be prepared for the change when it comes. Yate gives a bit of information about scanners. "The computer program that will scan will look for certain words. The resume advice in all books to date is that you avoid jargon and acronyms because the resume reader [the human reader] doesn't understand them." However, that's exactly what the computer is going to be looking for. There is, according to Yate, a way to avoid problems with this. "The best thing that we can do," he offers, "is at the end area where we would put education and interests we make a listing titled either Professional skills, Technical skills or Technical/Professional skills followed by a colon." Then Yate says to list the acronyms and buzzwords and put commas between them. He says if you do that the computer will scan it, read it and pick it up, thus giving you a better chance of being screened in for an interview. Do it Right and It Will Get Read If done correctly your resume will get read. If you can make yourself attractive enough and show accomplishments as well as credentials your chances of getting called in for an interview are excellent. There are, of course, different styles of resumes and not all of them are suitable for everyone. The two basic styles are the functional and the chronological. If you're a person with a good education but little actual job experience you'll need a different resume than someone with lots of job experience. So it's a good idea to buy one or two good books on resume writing to get some ideas of styles and how a resume is correctly put together. In addition, most books give examples of action words to use to describe your job duties. Writing your resume is an opportunity to be very creative and to really sell yourself. A good resume can be summed up with these words of Martin Yate, "Tell 'em you can leap tall buildings in a single bound, show 'em that you've done it but don't tell 'em how." Follow this advice and you'll have a resume that opens doors! CREATIVE COVER LETTERS They Complete the Marketing Package A cover letter should make the prospective employer want to read your resume. It should not be a rehash of what's on the resume but rather give fresh new information and tickle the interest. In addition, a cover letter should be individualized. It shouldn't be a form letter. Martin Yate pioneered a special cover letter called the executive briefing that is an excellent marketing tool, unique and simple to write. You simply start out with something like this: Dear Ms. Harmon: Please accept this executive briefing in reference to the position of copy editor that I read about in The Daily News. You'll see that I listed both your requirements and my matching skills. The page is then divided down the middle with a vertical line. On the left hand side there are a number of "bullets"...usually three to five. Here you list the requirements that were advertised for the job. On the right hand side of the line each of those bullets is matched with your experience. Then you simply list the job requirements on the left hand side. For example: Must have a degree in communications Then, on the right hand side you put: I have a degree in communications with a 3.8 GPA. You do this with each requirement so the employer can see at a glance that you do indeed meet the job requirements. Then at the bottom of the briefing you put something like this: I hope this executive briefing allows you to use your time effectively today. You'll see that my attached resume fleshes out my background. "The reason the executive briefing is so phenomenaly successful," says Yate, "is that it allows you to customize your resume without rewriting it and do it in a very professional-looking manner." He says that many companies have personnel people who are screening for thirty or forty different jobs. They read hundreds, even thousands of resumes. The executive briefing allows them to quickly grasp what the job requires, what you have to offer and whether or not it's a match. The executive briefing is ideal for these busy overworked people who read resumes daily. It quickly tells them what they need to know and it makes you look exceptionally good in the process. Remember, if you want your resume read you need to show the employer why he or she should read it. The whole idea of the resume and the cover letter is to get you an interview for a job. The best way to do that is to make sure the person who opens your resume package is impressed with the way you communicate your understanding of both the employers' needs and how your matching skills can be used for the benefit of the employer. You can create a powerful cover letter using this technique. As a result, your resume will be put into the hands of the person who can give you the job you want. ### Writing a resume and coverletter requires a lot of thought and hard work. It helps to know exactly what an employer wants and is looking for in the package you send. I am a freelance business writer and operate a resume writing service. If you would like help with the writing of your resume or if you would like me to write it for you, please contact: Susanna K. Hutcheson P.O. Box 2896 Wichita, KS 67201-2896 Tel (316) 684-0457 Fax (316) 684-0626 CIS E-Mail 71221,1511 Copyright Susanna K. Hutcheson 1993 All Rights Reserved