I recently worked with a delightful young lady in Virginia who wanted her resume to have a greater professional feel,  one more likely to earn interviews in New York.   With only two years of real-life experience in sales, the resume had only so much to go on. Little is not necessarily bad.

This girl is brilliant; an early graduate with honors from Duke University, civically involved and socially a leader. From right out of school, she’s been an extraordinary employee with her company and branded with accomplishments.

The resume she originally created was well written but lacked a burst of value in the beginning of the resume and was overdone in superlatives, fluff and redundancies. Not that unusual in a early career resume.  Let me be clear, this girl knows how to write and she wrote well, but she wrote a little too much. We needed to come together on what to leave in and what to take out. So back to the Christmas tree analogy.

A spruce tree is a thing of beauty: natural lines, sweet smelling pine, tall and strong. When it’s time to decorate the spruce, the star is carefully centered at the top. It represents the significance of what the tree stands for – a celebration of a birth.

Much like the star, the resume is an affirmation: “I am a star.” A solemn declaration of a winner with education, experience, skills, abilities and accomplishments. I liken these qualifications to ornaments on a tree. Certainly not the foundation for the star. That’s the tree.  Its trunk pushes the star higher each year and multiplies its branches for more ornaments to dangle from. A resume with only ornaments and no tree will not compete in today’s job market.

Now, back to my young client’s resume with her star burning bright. She has good reason to be proud and shout out to the world that she is coming: quality education, overachieving employee, native intelligence, and unbridled ambition.  And that’s exactly what her resume needed to say. But it was shouting, screaming, bellowing an endless stream of embellishments of glitz and glamour that didn’t need to be on her tree . She was good enough without it.  She had cluttered her tree; a veil of glitter, plastic and confetti  was hiding the true value of who she was – a young professional who had real value and would be productive from the first day she landed in a job. Someone to be recognized and considered seriously by a hiring authority.

We stripped away the excessive tinsel, eliminated redundant glimmering balls, and removed the clutter. The final resume still holds her gems and treasures, but it’s toned down. Her core structure now comes through. Those skills, abilities and accomplishments she’s so proud of are easier to read; they pop; her stature is professional . She stands a greater chance for that interview in New York City.

To my point, let your resume breathe. Don’t smother it with cluttered tinsel. Prominently show your value ornaments, succinctly, clearly and accurately. Let your resume twinkle with stylish class under your star.

Any young manager’s meteoric rise, to say the C-level suite, cuts through many phases of functional management disciplines using skills and abilities.

In the beginning, a cub employee soon after graduation, works hard to be recognized for duties and responsibilities well done. It’s goal number one, just to stand out with anything. The resume, in that early career climb, will detail how well tasks are accomplished; it will list character strengths and core competencies. Anything to get recognized, like the 12 hour days, and the above-and-beyond attitude. Soon after making management level, the resume should begin to take on more of an achievement tone mixed with  higher level responsibilities and accountabilities and less of the junior level skills like communications, team player and computer competencies.

Soon thereafter, as the junior manager rises to senior manager and eventually to executive, the resume takes on a much different feel. Notice how the term manager gives way to terms like Executive, President/VP, Director, etc? These titles are the result of those medals pinned to your chest. The SKILLS AND ABILITES heading is replaced by an ACCOMPLISHMENTS heading. At the executive level you have that history of accomplishment or you wouldn’t be there.

This highlights a perfect example of the need to manage your resume as you rise through the ranks. Instead of just updating your latest job on the top end of your resume, do a total review how your position becomes more top-end centric.  And even if you have been a successful VP driving sales for five years and you are being considered for a C-Level position… you should make sure your resume evolves showing less tasks and more specific bottom-line results. Here are a few “management” level terms that should be removed and replaced with “executive” terms and specific details on the executive resume.

1. Strong Communications Skills – this is a given. No need to state this.
2. Excellent Organizational Skills- what executive doesn’t have these skills.
3. Computer Proficient – of course you are.
4. Team Player- this a manager level or lower. As an executive you become a leader.
5. Managed teams of employees – this is assumed. What did the teams accomplish under your leadership? This where the resume stands out.
6. Exceeded Expectations – means nothing. You make your numbers or you don’t. Give specifics. And if you didn’t, this is another issue addressed at another place on the resume.
7. Budget Management – should be more like P&L accountability.

You get the idea. The resume morphs during your career. Keep upgrading to leadership from management. And begin the process early in your career rise.

Happy hunting,

Chet Baker

PRICE, QUALITY, SERVICE

Pick Any Two!

From a resume writer, this is especially true!

Recently a prospective client named Lori called me with a request for a rush resume rewrite. She was needing virtually a one-day turnaround. It’s not something I’m wild about. I don’t like being pushed to produce a resume without having a little time for some thought fermentation; not to mention the time needed to perform the tedious task of reading every line and in many cases deleting fluff and redundancy and rewriting more than 70% of the bullets and text block. I declined, respectfully.

Thought fermentation is thinking, absorbing, asking thought provoking questions, analyzing, researching, employing creativity, reasoning, and in some cases creating unique strategies to make an otherwise ordinary career, stand up and take flight in a resume. And that’s where a good resume writer earns her/his fee and reputation. Don’t be fooled, it’s not just about putting down nice words on paper.

With Lori, I referred her to a terrific resume writing CPRW colleague with her own local practice. She responded with a similar reply:  “Sorry, Lori, but I echo Chet’s response completely.  I just don’t do rush jobs because it takes me time to produce the quality I find so important in this job market.”

Asking a resume writer to perform a resume rewriting  rush job, is not a good idea. Either reply will cost you. If they say yes, question their practices and ability. And whatever they charge, you might be getting the short end of ordinary. If they say no, you’ve probably found a good resume writer but you won’t be any further down the road of getting a quality resume rewritten overnight.

Putting yourself in the position of needing a quick resume is not what you want to do. Contracting for a good and effective resume means finding someone who practices thought fermentation. Asking for a discount price, quality product and needing it tomorrow is asking for Magic. And we all know Magic is an illusion!

Here’s a simple suggestion. If you have a resume, take time to update it annually, even though you may not be thinking of leaving your job now. It’s probably not necessary to have a professional writer do it. Just add accomplishments, promotions, metrics, and events that you don’t want to forget or otherwise lose sight of the details. This will save valuable time for you and a resume writer and ensure getting those details remembered properly.

If you don’t have a resume, go to a free resume writing website like Resume Desk where you can write your own resume, store it there and come back to it frequently to update or edit. Then when it comes time for you to have a professional resume writer spruce it up, just download it or email it to them to do the rewrite. You can’t go wrong. The resume will be better organized, your writing most likely will be clearer and shorter if you follow the tips and suggestions offered. The professional resume writer will find it much easier to write from, perhaps charge you less, and get it done sooner.

Otherwise, don’t expect Magic!

Happy Hunting!

Chet Baker

As a professional Denver resume writer, I’ve counseled hundreds of clients on the major points of a good resume and the subtleties, both good and bad, that will kill a resume or take it to great heights and snag bushels of interviews. I’ve preached those points to the best of my ability. I’ve heard my colleagues sermon on the best way to write a resume for years.

So last week, I had a chance to give advice to a close friend, not a client, on those generally accepted fine points. A freebie.

I reviewed the resume he and his girl friend had worked on. Immediately I saw something dangerous. They had written a functional resume. Now I’m not here to say the functional resume is bad, it’s just that it’s developed a bad reputation for hiding things. Hiring managers have caught on, right or wrong. It also doesn’t connect well in electronic scanning programs. It’s advisable to steer clear from this format for a resume.

So I cautioned against it and even went to the extent of reformatting the resume to a straight chronological resume. I didn’t touch the content. That wasn’t my job.

Three days later I got an exuberant call: “I just got a job offer and accepted.” Needless to say I was excited for them and conveyed heartfelt congratulations.

As it turned out, they went ahead and had submitted that functional resume, the one that I cautioned against.

What’s the story here?

Was I correct in assertions about functional resumes? Or was I mistaken? Did I steer them wrong? My assertions and most of my colleagues will stand behind the reputation of a functional resume and serve up caution, just as I did.

But here’s what I haven’t let you in on:

• My friend had the goods. Meaning he had experience, strong core competencies, skills, abilities that matched up perfectly to the job description.
• He and his girlfriend sat down together. They took an afternoon and applied to close to a hundred jobs using online searching methods and phone calling. I repeat…PHONE CALLING. All suggestions I had given them. They left no stone unturned. They were intent on getting him on someone’s radar.
• The company that bit on his resume and the one he eventually went on with was small with a less sophisticated hiring process.  And they needed someone immediately. Bingo.

It worked. He was perfect for the position and the company was just right for him.

The moral of the story…..- if you got the goods and you work hard at a well structured job search, the resume can be less than perfect.

However if the job you seek is highly competitive, you aren’t a perfect fit, and the company you are approaching has a sophisticated, layered hiring process, I suggest you get the resume as close to right as possible.

Perfect? Not so sure there is such a thing.

Happy Hunting,

Chet Baker

You’ve written a great resume. Now, do you submit that resume and then follow the rules and keep quiet, silently waiting for a phone call?

Or do you step out of line, risk a scolding, and assert your individualism with a respectful call stating how serious you are about the position?

Here’s what happens. HR might…repeat, might be annoyed with you. But less so if you’re respectful, and simply want them to know who you are and how important the position is to you and ask them to look for your resume. Especially if you hold the call to less than 60 seconds.

All things being equal, you and the other candidates, here’s the truth. HR will be more inclined to bring you in for an interview over those who don’t follow up. I’ve been there, as a corporate recruiter. I can attest to the irony. We were always looking out for something to distinguish one candidate from another. Someone who took that risk and called me respectfully about their resume being considered, I would always look out for their resume.

Now, I always recommend to my clients that they risk the scolding and make the call. You make the choice.

Happy hunting,

Chet Baker

Depends on how you intend to submit it and to who.

First of all, let’s touch upon a few other formats sometimes used. Never send your resume in HTML, WordPerfect, MSWorks, Open Office, or RTF. This is not to say there is anything wrong with these programs, it’s just that MSWord is the gold standard in hiring practices. My guess is that about 99% of the resume readers use Word, and expect candidates to use this format. So, always write your resume in MSWord and then save it into either PDF or plain text, often referred to as ASCII.

Here are the plausible recipients who most likely will be receiving your resume:

Small business – This is where  you walk your resume, written on white paper, over to a person in an office and strike up a conversation. This includes mom and pops to mid-size business without an official HR department.

If this is where you will be applying, you can use the PDF or Word formats. Both pretty much look alike. You may be surprised to hear that they may want you to apply online to their website. In that case DO NOT APPLY online with a PDF. Use either Word or plaintext. Word will probably work just fine.

Recruiters- In-house, corporate, and 3^rd party recruiters.

These people want resumes in Microsoft Word. Period! NEVER SEND A PDF to a recruiter. Recruiters create what’s called a profile, a table built upon the data in the resume with a lot of cut and pasting. It’s much harder if not impossible to get that data from a protected PDF.  If they want the resume in a PDF they will transform the Word doc. format into a PDF themselves to send to their clients.

Local Corporations- without electronic scanning systems.

If you are hand carrying your resume to apply for a job a PDF or MSWord format will work. More than likely you will have trouble getting a face-to-face with an HR department person, much less a hiring authority. You will be asked to follow their submission protocols. Meaning, apply on line.

Sophisticated Large Corporations-with electronic scanning systems.

This is where a fully optimized plain text format is necessary to get a “hit.” If your resume is recognized as a qualified candidate, somewhere along the process you will be asked to either submit the resume in the fully formatted Word or PDF format.

The Interview – Take a PDF. Take several, up to five.

Don’t assume they will have printed it out and have it brought it along to the interview. And if you have applied only with a plaintext so far, they will probably have that ugly format to work with. Providing the PDF will be smart.

A well planned job search will have these three formats on hand for any possible need.

Good Hunting
Chet Baker

Not in all cases, but certainly it can and does happen often in companies that use what’s called ATS software. Generally it’s larger companies that use these systems. If you are hand carrying your resume down to Mr. Jackson at the local hardware story, it’s not an issue.

But, for purposes of writing a “fully optimized” resume for an electronic processing software, here’s how it goes.

Your resume will not be seen by human eyes until after it is scanned and classified by a computer. If the computer likes what it sees and sees a match to a job description, Bingo!.. it’s called a “hit.” Hits are sent on to a real live person. All the others are tossed far out into a deep dark silo in cyberspace, never to see the light of day again.

With a little knowledge of how these systems read a resume, you can avoid the black hole and become a hit. That’s of course if your credentials match up with the job description. And you’ve avoided spelling, typos, and blatantly poor writing.

Here are 12 selected tips to follow. There are more; professional resume writers usually adhere to about 17 when writing to these systems. We can be a little obsessive.

Note that all of these dozen tips have nothing to do with content, sentence structure, value statements, etc. All are formatting suggestions. Not that difficult.

1. Must be written in Microsoft Word. NEVER in PDF, HTML, WordPerfect or RTF.
2. Do not put anything into a header or footer.
3. No graphics unless you want the computer to see inexplicable garbled text.
4. Do not use tables. They are visually appealing, but confusing to a computer. Use tabs.
5. No combining sections into a single section heading. i.e., Professional Affiliations/ Community Service/ Training
6. Omit page numbers. Not needed on an electronic resume.
7. Never write a functional resume. Confusing to a computer and a hiring authority. Show achievements, skills, software under work history sections. But do not give each their own heading under a job segment.
8. Never omit dates, under any circumstance, in work history. Gaps are a big No No.
9. If using months in showing dates, never use all number dates. i.e., 5/23/1999
10. Do not include company addresses into work history.
11. Fonts: don’t mix styles, sizes for content. Never use the advanced “expanded or condensed” option. Don’t use all caps, except for perhaps name, company and heading. Don’t use small caps.
12. Never include references on your resume.

I recognize that this style of formatted resume makes for a visually boring document to read. It’s drawn out into a longer resume than normally needed. There is no style, no appealing creativity. If the computer doesn’t care nor should you. If your resume is a “hit,” that’s all you want. Here’s a suggestion: Add a line at the very end of the resume:

This resume format was optimized for automated computer scanning systems. Please contact me directly for a more visually appealing resume.

For my clients, I write and deliver the resume in three formats:
1. 97-03 Microsoft Word
2. Fully Optimized Format for Electronic Processing Software
3. PDF

Good Hunting

Chet Baker

Ever seen a resume opening like this?

“Dynamic, career-driven professional, bottom-line thinker looking to join an exceptional company to continue to grow and expand knowledge base.”

That objective statement is why… That type of objective is trite, hackneyed, unoriginal, and boring. Ten years ago it was commonplace. But with the advancement of the modern resume, a direct and pragmatic approach value document, those old passive, overused, and empty adjectives can be a serious detriment to the resume and candidate.

Is there ever a reason to have an objective heading anymore?

Recently a senior management client engaged me to rewrite her resume which focused on an atypical leadership career. Her resume didn’t clearly define who she was and what her value was. Her experience didn’t appear to be a close match to the position she was pursuing. In spite of the experience matchup problem, I knew she would be an exceptional fit and leading candidate for the position. The challenge was on.

I felt we needed something other than an opening profile paragraph,  that obligatory 30k foot look at her career at that point. I knew it wouldn’t be strong enough to get past the 15 second scan . The resume needed to jump out in the first 10 seconds of the initial review. It needed to come from a different angle, more than what she had been. We needed the company to see something they hadn’t even considered.  She had to be a diamond-in-the-rough candidate, a gem with qualities they hadn’t considered in addition to her experience and credentials.

That’s how I wrote the opening paragraph in an OBJECTIVE format. A forward thinking proposition, projecting ideas that would hit the bottom line rather than past perspectives. It was a mini-story, her unique objective of what she would do on her first day, what she would fix in the first month, where she would have the department in one year. We challenged the company, dared them to ignore her resume. It was a bold approach, but we had nothing to lose.  Her objective was stated in three active sentences, written clearly and succinctly without hesitation. Bingo! She got the interview. And remember, the primary reason for a resume is to get the interview.

In summary, I agree that a short, creative, match-up statement in a PROFILE SUMMARY is a much better way to open a resume than a mundane, boring, exaggerated statement about what you want rather than about how the company will profit from you joining them.  However, when faced with the challenge of positioning yourself for a job when the matchup isn’t quite so apparent, consider getting ambitious with a creative OBJECTIVE heading.

I’m a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), former executive and corporate recruiter. I now work exclusively writing custom resumes for clients from different business sectors, from all levels of management. I pride myself, as do my circle of peers (Professional Resume Writers) in the quality of resumes we deliver. We also recognize that occasionally we run into clients who make it very difficult to turn out an exceptional product.

This article offers suggestions on how to get the most out of working with a professional resume writer. It’s designed to help anyone who is considering shelling out considerable dollars for a custom resume. Here are six suggestions:

1. Write your own resume first with a free online resume building tool. ResumeDesk.com.
2. Be engaged, listen and think about how the document is progressing.
3. Take heed.
4. Ask questions.
5. Be responsive.
6. Understand your resume writer.

Okay, let’s say you see a job you’re perfect for. Or perhaps you just got a “layoff” notice from the job you’ve had for 10 years. You want to reach out to that perfect job, or you’re ready to launch into a robust job hunt. There’s no getting around the fact that the first question the employer will say is,  ”Send me your resume.” So, you ask yourself, ”What’s the best way to go about getting a good resume?”

1. Write your own - You’re probably surprised to the see that my first tip is to try to write your own resume first. Yes, that’s right. I encourage everyone to at least give it a try. It’s a no-lose situation. Here’s two reasons why:

1. You just may have what it takes to profile your value to a prospective employer. You can nicely format a document; outline your skills, abilities, experience and credentials clearly and succinctly. You know the correct length and how to package and send it.  And it saves you money.  Bingo!
2. Or, let’s say you’ve spent hours writing, struggling, trying to figure out what to put in and what to leave out, how to section it correctly, where and what to call skills, abilities, core values. The punctuation is iffy, and your sentence structure is questionable. You’ve given it a try but you realize the writing won’t stand up to the withering scrutiny of a resume review. So what have you gained? Simply put,  better knowledge of who you are and what is your value. Call it research.

• You are more engaged in the process because you wrote the basics.
• You know more about yourself than you did before you started the process.
• You’re ready to hand over the details to a professional resume writer and discuss the details.
• You’re prepared to sit in front of an interview committee and defend your resume because you were a big part of the process.
• And when they ask if you wrote the resume yourself you can correctly say, “Yes.” You can say you employed a professional resume consultant to merely edit it.

Let’s face it;  it’s not easy, writing about yourself. So you engage with a writer. S/he doesn’t know you, except for what’s been said in your initial meeting, and perhaps what’s in the resume you’ve given her. From this point on, realize your writer can only do so much without your help. They will try! I guarantee it. They will do everything they can. But it depends on you to allow them to make it the best resume possible. You’ve found a Professional Resume Writer. Take note:

2. Engage Completely – The unengaged client is probably the toughest thing for a resume writer to deal with. Just because you’ve paid us doesn’t mean we know what to write. We aren’t clairvoyant. The measure of a good resume writer is to ask probing questions. We writers ask for information in many ways about many features and topics of who you are. It might seem that what we ask has little relevance. But crafting value statements, profile summaries, skills, abilities, experience and core values is like painting a portrait. It takes a variety of colors on a pallet to mix into just the right shade, hue and highlight for a stunning picture of who you are. You can say a resume is much the same. Listen, listen, listen carefully and give careful measured responses.

3. Take Heed -The best writers know what sells. Even though all resume writers are different, there are common denominators contained in all good resumes. “Write in the active voice, shorter is better, simple formatting, list accomplishments, slash out fluff and redundancies..”  Just to name a few. This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t recognize it’s your resume and you have to feel comfortable with it. What I’m saying is that the resume writer normally knows what works.  By offhandedly denying them their writing instincts only complicates their work and makes it hard for them to know what to do.

4. Ask Questions- If it doesn’t seem right, ask questions. Professional resume writers want you to ask them anything during the process. It’s a collaborative process and they want you engaged. My clients have to feel comfortable with the end product. After all, they will have to defend it during an interview. If I don’t get questions I have a tendency to wonder if I’m hitting the mark for the client. And when the final resume is submitted and the project is closed, so to speak, it’s awkward  to get a phone call a week later with two or three items that should have been discussed during the original process.

5. Be Responsive- The resume writing process usually is a back-and-forth editing process. When clients ask me how long it takes to write their resume I say,  ”It depends on the client.” Best resumes come from the writer and client being closely engaged for a short concentrated time. Considerable lapsed time by the client to respond to a request for information or clarification by the writer –  generally more than 2 or 3 days –  gives way to diminishing focus, however slight it might be. And when focus is lost, so erodes some of the elegance of the process.

6. Other Clients- The best resume writers are busy. They may average as many as five to ten clients a month. As much as good writers want to make you feel like you’re the only client they have, just know they have others they are working with at the same time. Honor your scheduled times for phone calls, review discussions, meetings, etc. Make yourself available and submit your questions in a bunch, rather than three or four calls in a day with a different question or suggestion on each call. Those are a few of the things that will come out of trying to write your own resume first. Organization. So, do your homework. Try your hand at writing your own resume first. If it’s going to take a pro to help you, so be it. In most cases you will be happy with the end result if you help out in the process yourself.

Happy Hunting,

Chet Baker

Many HR readers and recruiters, the first responders, the soldiers on the front lines, reading and reading resume after resume say they hardly ever or never look at a cover letter. They’re to busy looking for key words, phrases, matching skills and experience with their job descriptions. They don’t have time to read glorified stories of how wonderful the candidate is. They say: “ too wordy, ramble, go on about stuff that doesn’t matter, emotional, too personal. One of their biggest complaints is that to many cover letters simply reiterate what the resume already says.

I say to those perceptions: “Not always correct, but at least that’s the perception to many of those front-liners.” So there’s merit there.

Here’s my take. A cover letter CANNOT win you the job. But a bad cover letter can lose it. I take the side of those first responders to heart, but also ask the questions: “What about the actual hiring authority, what about when you make the short list?”Here’s where a good cover letter really hits home.

If there are 4 applicant’s on the short list with equal qualifications, and only 1 has a cover letter, if that cover letter is well written and it adds something new and relevant to the candidate’s case, I argue that candidate has a leg up on the other 3 applicants. When the hiring authority, the boss, is weighing which candidate to make the offer to, s/he wants as much relevant information as they can get their hands on.  A well written cover letter gives the new boss what s/he’s looking for.

I, as a professional resume writer, think the cover letter is sometimes harder to write than the resume because of the creativity factor. The best cover letter is simplistic, logical, written without exaggeration,  made up of clear and clean statements with a touch of creativity, or personality. It injects glimpses of the candidate’s character, and special situations.  Where a cover letter get’s in trouble is when it becomes trivial and tries to impress. This normally ends up as a swan dive into the round file.

By default, I always suggest to clients to have a cover letter prepared, but not to send it if it’s not requested or if you feel it’s only average at best. I readily suggest sending one  if  it’s requested or if there is a compelling reason to define or detail something that’s relevant to the job that’s not outlined in the resume.

So, when you decide to write the cover: make it short, (3 or 4 paragraphs), and relevant.  Don’t simply restate what’s in the resume. Avoid glorified blather. Write it in the 1st person. Be sure to indicate the best way to reach you clearly.

Suggestions: Get a good resume book and review it.  A good one that I have in my library: No-Nonsense Cover Letters, by Wendy S. Enlow.

Good luck.