by Samantha Nolan

Meet Alexis!

Alexis has been a client of mine for several years, first coming to me six years ago when she wanted to transition into the field of event planning. From her first résumé to her current need for an updated résumé, her career had skyrocketed from someone supporting event planning functions to an executive-level leader. Alexis now works with major event planning organizations to coordinate every facet of national conferences. She contacted me recently to ensure her résumé reflected the level of involvement she now holds in the industry.

Why did Alexis need help?

Given it had been a few years since Alexis and I had updated her résumé, she provided me with her own version of an updated résumé, one filled with bullet point after bullet point of responsibilities and contributions. Her attempt at updating her résumé left her with a four-page document with very little prioritization of information, no aesthetic appeal, and perhaps most important, a document that did little to position her for the next level in her industry.

The “makeover!”

From her self-attempted four-page résumé update, I turned Alexis’ résumé into a three-page, executive-level overview of the past 12 years of her career. With page three solely listing education, affiliations, and presentations, her résumé was essentially two pages of content reflective of the contributions she had made during her related professional engagements.

To open Alexis’ updated résumé, I started with a graphical representation of her credentials and industry involvement, quite an impressive at-a-glance strategy that would be sure to differentiate her résumé from those of her competitors. By sourcing logos online¾ensuring they were presented to “float” on the page¾this element added interest and served as a reader engagement tool.

Next, in the qualifications summary, I immediately positioned Alexis as how she wanted to be seen: a Senior Event Manager. To the left and right of this professional title, I presented her key qualifiers based on her proven track record in the field. From the heading of the summary, I flowed into three statements which further introduced her candidacy and validated claims through examples of Alexis’ experiences. Lastly, to the left of these statements, I listed related core skills¾again, serving as an at-a-glance reminder of how Alexis was qualified for the jobs to which she was going to be applying.

I turned Alexis’ most recent work experience—described by her in 470 words and 17 bullet points—into a much more succinct 260-word presentation of her responsibilities and accomplishments. Differentiating content based on priority, Alexis’ “job” was presented in a paragraph format in order to provide the necessary context for her contributions. Given accomplishments are the most important component of any candidate’s professional experience section, I focused on presenting well-rounded contributions in bullet point form, narrowing down Alexis’ 17 bullet points to five well-constructed points. In this section, I was sure not only to present the results of Alexis’ efforts, but also some of the key actions taken to achieve the results, ensuring prospective employers were provided with appropriate validation of her abilities.

What did Alexis think?

I received such nice comments from Alexis once she reviewed her updated résumé: “WOW! I love my new résumé. In 2006, I hired Ladybug Design to write my résumé, and in 2012, I hired them to create an executive-level résumé! My résumé is a work of art and one that will open many doors in my field of conference/trade show management. Thank you!”

Creating your “makeover”…

When presenting your candidacy on paper, be sure you are (1) targeting your content to sell yourself as how you want to be seen, (2) ensuring aesthetic appeal and reader engagement, (3) prioritizing content to facilitate ease of readability, (4) differentiating responsibilities from accomplishments, and (5) ensuring focus on the latter. If you follow these steps, you will emerge with a stronger presentation of your candidacy and the ability to conduct a more effective search.

Before |  After

Do you have a résumé or job search question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@ladybug-design.com.

To view archived versions of the ‘Dear Sam’ column (January 2006-April 2009), please visit www.ladybug-design.com/dearsam/

by Samantha Nolan

Who is Rebecca?

Rebecca came to me seeking help in positioning her for what she hoped would be her last career move. With 33 years of experience in the field of human resources—specifically, benefits and compensation—she wanted to show potential employers that she was an expert of her craft while not unnecessarily aging her candidacy.

Why did Rebecca need help?

Rebecca had a jam-packed two-page résumé that was not aesthetically pleasing, was difficult to read due to overcrowding, was missing a more balanced presentation of job duties and accomplishments, and was unfortunately aging her candidacy given the résumé explored roles back to 1978.

The challenge a lot of the Baby Boomers I work with face, is the need to present the “right” amount of experience on paper. While one would assume you should present all of your experience in order to differentiate from your lesser-experienced competition, in doing so you highlight your age and assumptions of higher-than-average salary expectations. This presents quite a conundrum for some candidates as they want to showcase how experienced they are, but in doing so they over-qualify themselves for the job.

In Rebecca’s case, given she was seeking more senior-level roles, it would have been acceptable to explore 20 or so years of experience, however her first employer was one she stayed with for 18 years so including it in a traditional manner would have immediately aged her candidacy. To ensure we didn’t do that, I explored her positions back through 1996, which provided hiring managers with a solid 15-year career track record, while doing something called bylining her early experience.

Bylining early experience is a key way for more seasoned candidates to present their experience while avoiding the potential of unnecessarily aging their candidacy. To do this you add a subheading—Foundational Experience, Additional Experience, or a similarly named subheading—at the end of your Professional Experience section that breaks formatting. In this section you remove all notes of dates, allowing you to include early experience without the context of how long you were employed. You do have to be careful here however as I have seen some candidates attempt this approach and present far too many positions in the byline fashion. If you present more than say 2 or 3 positions in this section you really aren’t hiding anything and instead possibly making your career look even longer than it really was.

In Rebecca’s case, this was key in presenting her depth of knowledge and experience in the field while not presenting experience back into the 1970s and 1980s. To do this I encapsulated the most important aspects of her early 18-year position—elements I felt I could not demonstrate as well throughout her more recent experiences—within the following section:

— Foundational Experience —

ABC Corporation  |  New York, New York

Manager, Benefits Outsourcing  |  Manager, Pension Processing Center

Solidified client-provider relationships—and administered the associated $18M budget—with three third-party vendors providing 401(k), pension, qualified domestic relations orders, employee dispute processing, financial counseling, and survivor support services. Established performance standards and managed service levels to ensure optimal efficiencies and effectiveness.

■   Designed and led a retirement processing center, developing a staffing model so effective—successfully processed documents and provided service for 6,000 employees in a 90-day period—it became the centralized processing center for the entire U.S. operation.

In following this strategy, delivering compelling content that would speak to her target market’s needs, adding a third page to her résumé to provide critical white space—three page résumés are common and often necessary in presenting a more senior level candidate’s career—and creating a compelling visual aesthetic, Rebecca’s new résumé was far more effective and attractive.

What did Rebecca think?

I received a note shortly after completing Rebecca’s résumé makeover stating, “Wonderful experience! What I thought was a good résumé was revised to be a ‘great’ résumé! While I’m just beginning my job search, I’m much more excited and confident in my résumé and cover letter. Friends who have seen the resume call it ‘bold’ and ‘attention getting.’ I’m very proud of my presentation materials now and actually look forward to the entire job search!”

Given Rebecca was in the human resources field she really did have a solid résumé to build on, but based on some choices she had made, she was presenting potential disqualifying factors that could have impacted the success of her search. By reviewing her background, understanding how she needed to be positioned, and eliminating potential disqualifiers, her new résumé presented the “right” picture and painted her as the highly competitive candidate she was.

View Rebecca’s before and after résumé

Do you have a résumé or job search question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@ladybug-design.com.

To view archived versions of the ‘Dear Sam’ column (January 2006-April 2009), please visit www.ladybug-design.com/dearsam/

by Samantha Nolan

Who is Annabel?

Annabel was a very successful pharmaceutical sales representative who had 20 years of experience in the medical and pharmaceutical sales field and both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Annabel had held five positions during her career including one position outside of the field as a behavior therapist.

Why did Annabel need help?

If Annabel had wanted to continue on her career path in pharmaceutical sales she would have had a very good résumé to build on, however given that she wanted to transition out of the field she needed a résumé that better reflected the transferability of her sales experiences. Annabel had positioned herself as a “senior sales executive” which wasn’t necessarily the best strategy given not all the positions she was pursuing were of a senior level.

What did I do for Annabel?

Annabel’s original résumé needed to be softened while creating a strong image through content and formatting. Her original résumé positioned her as a senior sales executive with an undeniable record of achievement in the pharma industry. This approach would have been great if she had wanted to stay in the industry, however Annabel wanted to transition out of the industry and possibly even enter the nonprofit arena in a community-focused and relationship-based role.

For Annabel’s new résumé I focused on her business development and relationship management strengths—strengths that were transferable to non-pharmaceutical sales environments. To do this I minimized the appearance of her titles and company names so her pharmaceutical sales background was slightly masked. To accomplish this I presented areas of focus where you would normally see the job title, but still presented her job titles in a smaller font which was italicized and a little more difficult to read (a key strategy!).

I also added key sales results sections to validate the claims made in the qualifications summary, and to position Annabel as a top sales professional regardless of the industry. In the professional experience section I added color to focus the reader on the key results Annabel had achieved, presented her responsibilities in a paragraph, and disseminated her key areas of focus in a two-column format with bullet points introduced by functional subheadings. This approach really focuses the reader on the transferability of Annabel’s experiences given the bullet points are prefaced with introductions that “frame” the content to come.

Annabel’s new résumé, just like her original, was a full two pages in length, fitting for someone presenting 20 years of professional work history. As Annabel’s first position lasted almost 10 years, there was no way we could trim her experience without potentially diminishing the effectiveness of her résumé. However, I did present her less related counseling experience in a byline at the end of the professional experience section so not to confuse the reader about her career focus.

Annabel’s new résumé was powerful in content, unique in design, and effectively positioned her for opportunities outside of the pharmaceutical sales industry by focusing on the transferability of her experiences.

What did Annabel think?

I received very kind words from Annabel who stated, “I had used at least three résumé writing services before I was referred to Ladybug Design…the  work of Ms. Ladybug surpassed each…she makes claims that are honored within the work provided…very much attention to detail and your résumé is not a carbon copy of the last customer…”

Just like with Annabel’s résumé, your résumé should be a unique representation of your candidacy both in format and design. When you take the time to differentiate your candidacy based on the uniqueness of your experience, and combine that content with an attractive design, you will certainly improve the effectiveness of your search.

If you would like to see specific case studies highlighted for this series, with candidates tackling issues you are facing, feel free to email suggestions to dearsam@ladybug-design.com

Do you have a résumé or job search question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@ladybug-design.com.

To view archived versions of the ‘Dear Sam’ column (January 2006-April 2009), please visit www.ladybug-design.com/dearsam/

by Samantha Nolan

Dear Sam: I look forward to reading your résumé information in the paper each week and now find myself needing some advice. I have more than 30 years of human resources, engineering, and project management experience with a Fortune 500 company. I retired and moved on to a position with a nonprofit trade association. I was very successful, however, due to a difference of opinion with my employer, I resigned from that position. Since then, over the course of the past two years, I have been trying to get back into nonprofit trade association management without much luck. Since I’m applying for association management positions should I forget about mentioning my 30 years of HR experience? How should I frame my reason for leaving my last employer? – Tom

Dear Tom: I’m so sorry to hear of the lack of response you have seen during your search. While this economy is tough, great résumés are still getting great results, so it is great that you are open to feedback to see how your résumés might be contributing to the results you are not seeing.

There are a number of strategies you can employ as a seasoned professional to avoid unnecessarily aging your candidacy on a résumé, while minimizing potentially disqualifying factors that you may or may not have considered. One of which however, which I feel is absolutely one of the main reasons your résumés are not generating results, is that you have removed all dates of employment. Sure to tell a story far worse than reality, this is a huge ‘no-no’ in résumé writing. Instead, why not built a substantial qualifications summary and then highlight key achievements, allowing you to push most of your employment dates to page two of your résumé? Other tips that might help improve the effectiveness of your résumés include:

Present only the relevant amount of experience —

When reviewing your career, remember that hiring managers are much more interested in what you have done recently, so including information from 20 or 30 years ago may do more harm than good. Be sure to focus on the last 15 or so years of your career, particularly if you are applying for a position that does not necessitate more experience. As you are seeking a senior-level role, you certainly can bring in earlier experiences, but be careful how far back you date your candidacy. Early experiences (I really start evaluating the cost benefit of including a candidate’s experience when I start exploring work in the 1980s) can be bylined. In this strategy, you could date experiences from titles you held during the past two decades, while making only a brief mention of earlier positions without dates.

Consider the combination résumé format —

As you are a senior executive it is likely that the hiring manager will be looking for a seasoned candidate expected to have 20+ years of experience. But, because I don’t know when you worked where, or when you held each title (as you have omitted that key data from your résumé), you may have to use the combination résumé format. Say your earlier experience is difficult to break into pieces as you held one title for a considerable amount of time, then the  combination format could help you present highlights of your career before the professional experience section would be presented. Therefore this format allows you the opportunity to focus the reader’s attention on your qualifiers (type of experience) vs. potential disqualifiers (dates of experience).

Incorporate keywords and update jargon —

You will also want to make sure the jargon used within your résumé is up-to-date with today’s vernacular in the nonprofit field. Antiquated or unrelated terms and even job titles can serve to immediately disqualify a candidate. Certainly if you found your HR background a major plus in your recent role, then you would not want to omit it, nor could you when presenting an accurate picture of your background. I recommend reviewing all of your experiences—HR, engineering, and project management—and ensuring you are selling the transferability of the functions you  performed in terms that resonate with your new target audience.

Revitalize your résumé format —

If you are using a résumé format you used in the 80s or 90s it will not only show your age but not utilize some of the key strategies of a 21^st century job search. Be sure your résumé is in line with today’s formatting standards, opening with a qualifications summary not an objective statement, focusing on accomplishments not responsibilities, and utilizing an engaging style of action-oriented content. Think about it, if a résumé is unattractive it repels readership, however if you have a pleasing aesthetic it compels readership and goes a long way to extending the screening process. Your résumés certainly could use a makeover to ensure they not only read well but also attract attention.

As for your question about how to frame your reason for leaving your last employer, this of course will not come into play until your interview. At that point honesty is always the best policy, but be sure to steer away from any negativity. Instead, focus on what the experience taught you about what you want in your next nonprofit engagement and employer, and of course, how the employer in front of you fits the bill.

With a review of these tips to “modernize” your résumé, your experience will shine and potential disqualifiers related to your fears of aging your candidacy will be removed from your résumé. I wish you great success!

Do you have a résumé or job search question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@ladybug-design.com.

To view archived versions of the ‘Dear Sam’ column (January 2006-April 2009), please visit www.ladybug-design.com/dearsam/

by Samantha Nolan

Meet Alexandra!

Alexandra had made a decision to change career paths from the corporate world to higher education but was faced with the challenge of creating a résumé that would effectively market her to her target audience. She had not updated her résumé in 10+ years and had not worked in academics in 12 years. Alexandra came to me, not knowing where to start with her résumé, and asked me to translate her skills from the corporate world to higher education.

The Résumé

Alexandra’s original résumé was underdeveloped and overcrowded. While it was just two pages in length, the block paragraphs of information contained within each professional engagement section made the résumé difficult to read and a turn-off for any potential employer. In its current format, there would be no way a hiring manager would be able to see, and therefore understand, how Alexandra was qualified for her targeted positions given that her higher education experience did not appear until page two of the résumé. In addition, no accomplishments were presented and there was no prioritization to the information presented. Alexandra had also not been able to “translate” the marketing skills she gained in the past 10+ years into a language that made sense for higher education, creating a résumé that was doing nothing but marketing her for exactly what she had been doing in recent years.

In order to market a candidate for something different, you have to create a robust qualifications summary which helps the reader (the target audience) visualize how the candidate is qualified. Replacing Alexandra’s original four-line summary with a relevant 6-line summary, 4 key taglines, and a list of 10 core skills, the reader would now view Alexandra as a higher education candidate before reaching the professional experience section of the résumé and the post-1999 and non-higher education-related experience she had gained. Alexandra’s summary, as mentioned above, was introduced by 4 key taglines which presented a high level summary of what the reader needed to know in the 4-second screening process…

“Possess a master’s degree concentrated in Higher Education Administration & College Student Personnel”

“Played a key role in student retention, engagement, and “community-building” with DePaul and Loyola”

“Combine experience in higher education with corporate marketing and account management tenure”

“Design and execute strategic marketing and retention programs that drive goal attainment”

With this introduction and focus in the qualifications summary, and the extension of that strategy throughout the professional experience section, Alexandra looked like a higher education candidate with a value-added career in marketing.

In the qualifications summary, I brought forward the relevance of Alexandra’s marketing career, “translating” it to her audience to ensure her most recent experience did not seem irrelevant. Likewise, in the professional experience section I presented Alexandra’s roles with her current career target in mind, being sure to present the relevance of each responsibility or accomplishment so each could be read in light of, and make sense for, the higher education field.

While Alexandra’s new résumé extended to 3 pages, the length provided the opportunity to add much needed white space, fully explore the relevance of her recent career, and explain her experience in higher education which occurred back in the mid and late 1990’s. The third page also provided the opportunity to present the seminars and workshops Alexandra led while she was in the higher education field, reinforcing her image as a subject matter expert.

Alexandra’s Journey

Alexandra was kind enough to write to me and say “The finished product is well beyond my expectations! You did an outstanding job branding my image. I know with this updated version I now have the a résumé that will receive attention…” Alexandra’s résumé did get the attention she wanted and her new image, on paper, secured interviews in higher education and played a key role in her transitioning out of the corporate arena and into a program director role for a large public university.

View Alexandra’s new résumé

Do you have a résumé or job search question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@ladybug-design.com.

To view archived versions of the ‘Dear Sam’ column (January 2006-April 2009), please visit www.ladybug-design.com/dearsam/