For the next few weeks, as the job search season ramps up, I am going to introduce you to a candidate who likely struggled with some of the same issues you are finding troublesome in your job search. For this week, I’d like you to meet Julie…

Who is Julie?

Julie was a client of mine not too long ago who came to me in the hopes that I could take her diverse experience and recently completed education and position her for entry-level customer service jobs in a banking environment.

Why did Julie need help?

Julie needed assistance with her résumé as she was finding it difficult to identify the transferability of her past experiences to what she now wanted to do. On her original résumé, she had listed 4 positions since 1999 including tenure as a data entry clerk, revenue recovery specialist, warehouse associate, and preschool teacher. Now, with the objective of securing a job as a teller in a banking branch, she did not know how to “relate” her past to her current goals. Julie had also recently completed a bachelor’s degree and was pursuing her master’s degree, which was making it even more difficult for her to position herself as “qualified” and not under-qualified by experience and over-qualified by education.

What did I do for Julie?

First, and the key to all good résumés, was to have an in-depth discussion with Julie to review her background in much greater detail. Knowing that her dream job was in a banking environment, I knew I needed to uncover and promote Julie’s customer service, sales, relationship development, and administrative skills. Through our time together, we explored her background and I learned she had experience in two retail settings that she had not presented on her résumé. This information was vital in positioning her as “qualified” for her positions of choice.

On Julie’s new résumé, I used a functional format—rarely used and to be avoided unless you do not think you can get your foot in the door using a more traditional format—as I needed to minimize several aspects of Julie’s candidacy: (1) Julie was not entering the field with any previous banking experience; (2) Julie had changed positions several times in recent years and could possibly have been seen as a job-hopper; (3) Julie’s experience would not immediately be viewed as transferable into a banking environment, especially given her most recent roles were as a preschool teacher and a warehouse associate; and (4) I needed to focus the reader’s attention on her qualifications first, and her places of employment and titles, last.

As for the content of Julie’s new résumé, I leveraged her past retail experience to showcase her sales and customer service strengths, along with her ability to lead stores to achieve #1 ranking. Julie provided me with some great additional information during our consultation that I was able to use to promote the transferability of her experiences into a banking role. This content was used to fuel the Highlights of Experience section on her résumé where I also focused the hiring manager’s attention on the transferability of her experiences by introducing statements with functional keywords that related to her current goals.

As a recent graduate and current student, I positioned Julie’s education immediately following the qualifications summary. Doing this provides for heightened focus on her strongest qualifications and moves her work history section—presenting employers, titles, and dates of tenure—to the very end of page one.

Julie’s new résumé positions her as a very competitive candidate to join a bank in a retail-focused role and, just as important, promotes her “value” as a candidate. Julie’s original résumé did little to differentiate her candidacy and instead expected a potential employer to “figure out” her value by assuming a lot about her experiences. Now, with Julie’s new résumé, the 7-second screening process will be spent learning about how Julie is qualified for the job and not on her potential disqualifiers.

What did Julie think?

Julie was thrilled with her new résumé and wrote to me a day later stating, “What else can I say other than WOW! I would never even have thought of writing my résumé the way you did. I am very impressed and I am really looking forward to sending this version of résumé out there to potential employers in the hopes of landing my career job. Thank you so much for your help and expertise, it meant a great deal to me.”

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/

Background:

Sandra came to me with a wealth of nursing experience and some major concerns: (1) Some of her most impressive experience, and longest tenures, occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, and while she had been working in a clinical setting in more recent years, her positions had been shorter term; (2) Sandra was concerned that she would be competing against younger, less-experienced, and therefore potentially less expensive candidates, and did not know how to “sell” herself as “value-added;” (3) Sandra was seeking employment with a major health system and knew there would be hundreds of applicants for just one open position.

Sandra provided me with nine pages of handwritten notes, most of which were a simple narration of employers’ names and locations, the titles Sandra held, and a few words about what she did in each setting. It was clear from Sandra’s presentation of her experience that she really placed a lot of value on some of her earliest roles, including one in particular that she pursued on a volunteer basis.

Turnaround Strategy:

After learning more about Sandra’s background, I decided a functional format was necessary. While I take this approach on very few résumés, I felt in this case that it was vital in minimizing the appearance of the number of positions Sandra had held in recent years. This approach would also greatly reduce the redundancy that would come from presenting the same job functions multiple times. In addition, Sandra’s accomplishments did tend to be stronger in earlier roles, not surprising as she spent more time with those employers and therefore was able to contribute more value, so presenting those upfront was going to be critical in positioning Sandra in the best possible light.

Fueling my ability to position Sandra in this manner was the additional insight I gained during our consultation. From listening to Sandra during our chat, I captured a sense that one of her strengths was the ability to identify conditions others overlooked. She also conveyed to me that due to her maturity, and her work on a volunteer basis launching a free clinic, she possessed excellent patient and physician relations skills. I used these, along with her fantastic accomplishments, as differentiating factors on her résumé. This painted a picture of a true professional who, through experience, could offer a refined bedside manner and an expansive nursing skill set.

Formatting:

The key to success for Sandra’s résumé was the unique Notable Accomplishments section. Following a rather brief qualifications summary, this accomplishment-focused section provided a window into the value Sandra was positioned to provide. Exploring examples of opportunities she had to participate in capital improvement projects, initiate process improvements, launch a free clinic, and the reputation she had gained for patient care excellence along the way, this section proved vital in differentiating Sandra from her potentially less expensive competitors.

Following Notable Accomplishments was a Professional Highlights section which reviewed key aspects of her nursing roles. Combining all past experiences to create one very strong section, this provided for a much more engaging read than a reverse chronological résumé would have in Sandra’s situation. If I had used the more standard format for her résumé, the hiring manger may have been turned off by the recent movement in her career and the number of positions she had held, not to mention the redundancy that would have been hard to avoid given she had held very similar roles in many positions.

As is called for in a functional format, Sandra’s work history was presented next with a listing of her employers’ names, dates of tenure, and titles held. This section was strategically placed on page two so to play a lesser role in the screening process. Lastly, I presented Sandra’s community involvement, education, and licensure to complete her two-page résumé.

Results:

Sandra was kind enough to contact me to let me know she was successful—and extremely excited—about being offered a job with one of her target employers—one of the region’s largest healthcare systems.

View Sandra’s resume by clicking here!

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/

Candidate’s Overview

As is the case with many of my clients with 30+ years of experience, Frank came to me with an existing résumé he had contained to one page given he was still under the impression that a résumé had to be one page. In fact Frank was so brief in his descriptions of his positions, he had used just 45 words to describe his most recent nine-year role, a mere 25 words to describe his previous position of 21 years, and another 19 words presenting what he did in the military during the infancy of his career. The remainder of Frank’s one page résumé was filled with a lengthy education section spanning at least one-third of the page, especially long given that it was only presenting two certificates and no degrees. A one-sentence objective statement and six-line volunteer section rounded out his one-page résumé.

The Problems

The problems with Frank’s résumé were that it (1) was an inappropriate length when presenting 30+ years of experience, (2) unnecessarily aged his candidacy by presenting very dated information upfront on page one, (3) did not present his experiences in a value-based manner and instead focused on the basic duties he performed, (4) lacked focus by not defining a career target, and (5) was unexciting through a combination of poor word choices and formatting.

The Solutions

The first step in transforming Frank’s résumé into a value-added tool was to gather as much information as I could about his career. Through a lengthy consultation I discussed Frank’s positions, the challenges he faced, the results he achieved, and the value he contributed. I also discussed where he wanted to go at this stage in his career so I would know how to relate his past experiences to his current objectives. To overcome the five key problem areas I implemented the following solutions:

(1) Résumé length: I transitioned Frank’s résumé to an appropriate two pages in length. His most recent position, formerly described in 45 words, was now presented in 295 words with concrete examples of how he added value to the organization.

(2) Unnecessarily aging candidacy: By presenting a fairly robust description of Frank’s most recent role, combined with a fully developed qualifications summary, Frank’s earlier position spanning 1979-2000 fell to page two. This strategic move reduced the chance of his candidacy being screened out, and focuses the hiring manager’s attention on what Frank has done most recently to add value to his candidacy.

(3) Transitioning to value-based content: Much of the new content on Frank’s résumé focused on accomplishments. By presenting his achievements, in addition to overviews of his daily responsibilities, the hiring manager will receive a much fuller, more valuable picture of how Frank can add value to his/her organization.

(4) Targeting résumé: Before putting pen to paper, I had to understand where Frank was headed in order to translate past experiences to future goals. Using this information to steer content development throughout his résumé, I also used it to create a refined qualifications summary that was successful in positioning him exactly how he wanted to be seen.

(5) Engaging the reader: Reinventing Frank on paper was not only performed by way of content changes, but also by creating a format that better drew in and engaged the reader. Still selecting a conservative design, appropriate based on the target audience, I created a clean and uncluttered look with clear hierarchy to each piece of information, providing the reader with an easy-to-scan résumé with key aspects of Frank’s experiences formatted to attract extra attention.

The Morale of the Story

I encourage any candidate with an extensive background presented in an under-valuing one-page résumé, to think about some of the strategies I used on Frank’s résumé. How can you implement these same approaches to create a dynamic, engaging, and interview-winning résumé? Frank wrote, “After reading your column for several years I knew the end product would be great, but this résumé far exceeded my expectations.” Take one or more of these approaches and run with it, I guarantee it will improve the effectiveness of your résumé and your job search.

Click to view Frank’s one-page résumé, before the makeover!

Click to view the first page of Frank’s new two-page, value-based 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 visitwww.ladybug-design.com/dearsam/

Dear Sam: In this time of deep unemployment and many folks like myself out of a job for 12 months now, how is it even possible to think we can afford to find hundreds of dollars to cover a résumé service? Those of us who have been unemployed for some time do not have money for next month’s rent, let alone money for a résumé. Has America lost its core values to help their own, especially for those who have been unemployed for a year or more? I have attached my résumé for an honest look and a little help. – Sal

Dear Sal: Thank you for your letter. I feel your frustration and I am so sorry you have been unable to find work. I’m happy to help you, and will address your concerns.

First, there are many résumé writing services—all with different price points—so if you feel that using a résumé service is the right solution for you, you should explore your options and see if the investment is worth the potential return. I do understand, though, that with limited resources, enlisting the help of a professional would be seen as something you need but something you cannot afford. Allow me to offer an alternate solution…

Many résumé writers like I volunteer their time to local organizations, facilitating both train-the-trainer type workshops and seminars for those looking for work. For example, just in the past few weeks, I have given several presentations and facilitated comprehensive résumé development workshops for 200+ job seekers, and I know many of my colleagues in the industry do the same thing. In addition, I have been invited to several Job and Family Services One Stop Centers to train their résumé counselors, and I have done that same thing with local nonprofits that focus their efforts on helping mature (over 50) candidates. I know of several writers who attend job fairs, just like I do, and spend entire days facilitating free workshops and meeting with clients to assess their résumés. I encourage you to look around for events, seek assistance from job search networking groups, and reach out to your local Job and Family Services office to see what assistance is out there that is completely free of charge.

As for the real reason for your email —to receive an honest critique of your résumé—at first glance, I think the mechanics of your résumé are sound. You have followed protocol in the qualifications summary and I think the content is actually quite good. I have, however, identified four key reasons behind perhaps a lack of success in the job market:

1.   You need to remove focus on your most recent custodian role of 2 years as it does not support your objective of gaining entry back into district/regional sales management.

2.   You need to pull out accomplishments and not blend them—albeit you have tried to attract attention to them by bolding them—with responsibility statements, as they are difficult to read.

3.   You are dating yourself by including experience from 1976.

4.   You have no college degree, which I imagine is a preferred requirement for the management positions you are seeking.

So how do we fix these issues? Well, the good news is there is a “fix” for almost everything on a résumé. Let’s review what you can do to improve the effectiveness of your résumé by minimizing the impact of these four potential disqualifiers:

1.   To remove focus from your most recent and unrelated tenure as a school custodian, deploy the use of a combination format. In this format, you would include a Career Highlights section, which would allow you to pull from your strong related experiences and achievements. Organize this section —which will appear after the Qualifications Summary and before the Professional Experience section —by employer or key action area (turnaround management, talent acquisition, business development, etc.). If you choose to organize this section with functional subheadings as suggested, I would make sure you list the employer at the end of each statement so the reader doesn’t have to wonder when and with which employer that particular achievement occurred. The goal of using this strategy and format would be to push the custodian experience to page two so it plays a lesser role during the screening process.

2.   Differentiate your responsibilities from accomplishments by using a paragraph/bullet combination. Highlight additional accomplishments (you’ll have remaining accomplishments that were either not the strongest or somewhat redundant, therefore were not placed in the Career Highlights section) in the Professional Experience section, but do so with bullet points. Bullet points are easier to read and subconsciously our eyes go to the bullet points when we read a résumé. Still communicate your overall scope of responsibility in a paragraph style, but augment this with the bulleted achievements for each role.

3.   Figure out a way to “break” your experience from your first employer, which spans 1976 to 1996. You can do this in a number of ways.

(1) You could present the following statement: “Additional foundational experience with ABC Employer, serving in DM, (list other titles here) roles. By using this byline strategy, you can use all of the great accomplishments from this timeframe in your Career Highlights section, but avoid aging your candidacy by going back 34 years.

(2) You could include the entire Early Experience section, but without dates, by simply breaking formatting and adding a subheading entitled “Additional Experience.” Underneath the subheading, present the experience in all its glory, never mentioning dates. This strategy is accepted as you have added a subheading and therefore are allowed to be inconsistent with your inclusion of dates.

(3) Include only some of your experience with your first employer of 20 years with dates following titles and not the employer. By doing this, you could explore your DM role and possibly one other position with the company. As I don’t imagine you joined the company as a DM, you could trim several years of experience off of your résumé by only including the most recent one or two roles you held during your 20-year tenure. If you do this, be sure you are presenting dates of employment after titles and not employers throughout your résumé.

4.   I don’t know how much not having a degree is hurting you, but if you didn’t attend college, or didn’t complete very much, then there is really nothing we can do other than make sure you are presenting all of the professional development you have in your field of interest. If you did attend some college (2+ years) and you find the degree is a “preferred” and not a “required” qualification, then feel free to include that you pursued a degree and completed 2+ years.

I hope this candid critique helps you identify the potential challenges in your résumé despite a fairly solid-looking document. I am certain if you work on these items, a stronger and more helpful rather than harmful résumé will emerge. I truly wish you the best of luck. Perhaps I’ll see you at an upcoming job fair or event.

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/

Background:

Mitchell came to me with the goal of preparing his résumé for an advancement opportunity. While he had felt confident about his résumé, he had recently reviewed a résumé I wrote for a peer of his and had started second guessing the strength of his candidacy on paper.

Original Résumé:

Mitchell’s original résumé was three pages in length and included 14 years of work experience. Mitchell opened his résumé with a large heading section, continued with an objective statement and his education, followed with a qualifications and achievement section, and ended with a two-and-a-half page professional experience summary. In this summary, he had represented all of his responsibilities in bullet points, creating a lengthy résumé with little prioritization in its 57 bullet points.

What was wrong?:

Mitchell’s original résumé was not going to position him for the senior leadership roles he was seeking. Instead, through poor formatting, inclusion of unnecessary sections, and lack of content prioritization, it would not get the time of day in front of the recruiters who were pursuing him as it looked more like an entry- or mid-level management résumé. For instance, Mitchell’s heading, objective statement, and education section would likely be the only items seen during the 4-to 7-second screening process, and within those sections there was really nothing to differentiate his candidacy from that of a competitor. In his professional experience section, it was clear he had copied from job descriptions, something that would immediately disengage the reader. The qualifications and achievement section was lacking in content for someone with 14 years of experience, not to mention that this section was not the strongest representation of what Mitchell had to offer. Lastly, and perhaps the only thing that was right with Mitchell’s résumé, was the length. With 14 years of experience and a strategy to position him for the next level of leadership, I was comfortable with a three-page résumé.

How to fix it!:

First, Mitchell really needed a résumé that “popped!” The format and content were going to be vitally important in attracting and keeping the attention of readers given their limited time and the competitive nature of the field Mitchell was in. I therefore designed a format that would serve as a great backdrop to tell the impressive story of his career.

Opening Mitchell’s résumé with a robust qualifications summary was critical in positioning him for how he wanted to be seen. Mitchell’s summary reflected some of what others had said about him—from performance review excerpts—in addition to key accomplishments and core skills. When contrasted with the objective statement on his original document, Mitchell’s “after” résumé became immediately more effective than his “before” version.

Flowing through his résumé next to his professional experience section, I took some time to better explore Mitchell’s responsibilities and accomplishments, placing them in a bullet point/paragraph style to better highlight where he had contributed value. This format allowed for better prioritization of experiences and would draw the reader’s attention to the most important details on the résumé.

Mitchell’s new résumé ended with his education section and industry training. Mitchell had placed his education on page one as he was a recent graduate, but as his education did not differentiate his candidacy and was not his key selling point, a more appropriate placement would be at the end of his résumé.

Mitchell’s results:

Mitchell was thrilled with his new résumé, calling, once he received it, to convey his thoughts and appreciation. He later emailed to tell me, “I have received nothing but positive remarks in regard to my résumé and I have even had employers screen me for higher-level positions.” I am confident Mitchell’s career will continue to progress with the benefit of his new résumé representing him as he wanted to be seen.

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/

Background

Alex’s objective was to secure a highly coveted pharmaceutical sales rep position. His main concern, and one brought up in previous interviews, was that he lacked the business-to-business (B2B) sales experience required. Alex had however been engaged in B2B transactions throughout his career, but they were not highlighted prominently, instead there was a clear B2C focus to his original résumé. Alex also wanted to showcase the transferability of his career in the fitness industry to support his strong medical and health knowledge.

Résumé Strategies

Alex’s original résumé was not strong enough in content or presentation, so both areas were addressed in the development of hisnew résumé. Instead of an objective statement, I opened the résumé with an extensive qualifications summary highlighting his related experiences and education. Beginning the qualifications summary is a brief highlighted list of key qualifiers, a highly effective approach when a candidate needs to focus the hiring manager’s attention on the aspects of their background that qualify them for a particular engagement.

Next, Alex’s professional experience section was expanded significantly based on information we reviewed during his consultation. His primary B2B experience was expanded from only 4 bullet points on his original résumé, to a full paragraph and 7 bulleted achievements on his new version. The formatting of this section pulls the hiring manager’s eye to the most important information. Page two of Alex’s résumé continued to explore his experiences, highlighting B2B interactions whenever possible. I also highlighted his preceptorship prominently along with a personal training certification. Lastly, Alex’s education was presented with a complete list of all science and medical coursework he completed.

Cover Letter Strategies

I opened Alex’s cover letter noting his key qualifications for his position of interest. The first paragraph was used to capture the recipient’s attention and make them want to read more. To do this well, I first had to clearly understand Alex’s key qualifications, his position of interest, and the intended audience. The center section of Alex’s cover letter explores his experiences, successes, and the skills that fueled his performance. I used bullet points to focus the hiring manager’s attention on the most important pieces of information, which also helps break up a “heavy” looking one-page letter. To close, I used an action-oriented statement, rather than taking a passive approach and waiting for a hiring manager to call Alex. Of course, if the advertisement says no calls, then you need to follow that advice, but most of the time a follow-up call is the appropriate strategy to reiterate your interest.

Makeover Results

Alex received a phone interview in week 1 of his search, followed by a face-to-face in week 2, followed by the job offer in week 3 of his search. He now enjoys his new position as a pharmaceutical sales rep. with a leading drug manufacturer.

Keys to Success

Alex had the experience to highlight; he just wasn’t sure how he could do that, what rules to follow, and how to speak the language of his target market. Through due diligence, exploration of past accomplishments, and a clear understanding of effective keywords and strategies, his résumé was revamped into a tool that brought attention to the related aspects of his candidacy.

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/

Candidate’s Background:

Logan was a soon-to-be MBA graduate who had worked in his family-owned construction business for five years. While attending college—and acquiring two undergraduate degrees—he had been gaining hands-on experience in business management, project coordination, and customer service in the design/build firm his family had been operating on a part-time basis. Logan’s goal was to utilize his undergraduate degrees, experience, and upcoming graduate degree to secure a position in the accounting or finance field.

Original Résumé:

Logan’s original résumé did not position him for any particular field. Opening with an objective statement—which stated nothing about what he could do for potential employers—his résumé did little to secure and hold the interest of the target audience. Moving then to an education section, Logan attempted to differentiate himself solely on education, a strategy which is rarely successful. In the employment section, Logan positioned himself as an owner of the family-owned construction company and did not go into great detail about the projects he had worked on, the contributions he had made, or the transferable skills the experience provided to him. Logan’s original résumé was two pages long with the second page including an additional skills section which presented some of his technical skills and ownership of some private rental properties.

New Résumé:

As a candidate with only five years of experience with one organization, I felt it was important to create a one-page résumé for Logan. Instead of opening with an objective statement—which would do nothing to tell a prospective employer what Logan could do for them—I used a qualifications summary to bring forward all of Logan’s finance- and accounting-related training, education, and experience. To do this, I asked Logan to send me all of his coursework during undergraduate and graduate school so I could add important keywords in his field of interest. We also focused our consultation on discussing the related aspects of his work experience. The qualifications summary spans the first third of the page and will be vital in differentiating his candidacy.

In the summary, I highlighted Logan’s education as I wanted to place his education section at the end of the résumé. I did this as rarely is education alone a candidate’s key qualification—as many other candidates are likely to have similar degrees—so his education had to be combined with his experience to differentiate him from his competitors. The summary therefore mentions his educational credentials but focuses on the experience he has gained in the business world and as a property owner, and the applicability to his current career objective.

In the professional experience section, I removed the focus on Logan’s ownership status—which may have presented him as being too entrepreneurial to become an employee—and instead positioned him as a business manager with functions in budgeting, accounting, project management, and client service. By doing this, the focus is paid to the areas in which he impacted, not simply the leadership role he held. I greatly expanded Logan’s description of his experience with the family business, being sure to convey the level of contributions he had made throughout his tenure and the transferability of his experiences into a finance or an accounting role.

Last, Logan’s education was presented to complete his new full one-page résumé.

The look of Logan’s résumé was important also. I transformed his résumé from an overused Word template to a clean, professional depiction of a junior-level candidate, ensuring the format was appealing to what would likely be a fairly conservative audience.

Candidate’s Reaction:

Logan emailed my firm and stated, “The new résumé and cover letter are great! They both exceeded my expectations. Thanks!” Logan is well on his way to securing a position in his target field.

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/

Candidate’s background:

Jeremy came to me with a very average résumé not unlike many others I see on a daily basis. While his résumé presented an overview of his jobs with accomplishments scattered throughout, it lacked the appeal to make the most of the 7 seconds his résumé would get in front of the hiring manager.

Jeremy wanted to leverage his banking experience to secure a hybrid sales and operations management role. His old résumé wasn’t getting his foot in the door, and not surprisingly as it simply served as a narrative of what he had done in past engagements. In today’s economy and job market, a résumé has to be much more, and instead of simply presenting what you have done, a résumé instead needs to present a strategic image of what you have done that positions you for what you want to do. Long gone are the days when hiring managers had the time to determine what a candidate’s transferable skills were, and instead we now live in a time where you have to be explicitly clear on a résumé as to the value you can offer a prospective employer.

Résumé strategy:

The first step in revamping Jeremy’s résumé was to remove his outdated objective statement. A résumé should never open with an objective statement as it wastes the most valuable real estate on page one with what is most likely a self-serving statement that tells the employer nothing about what you can do for them. Instead a qualifications summary, based on a clear understanding of the keywords (skills, experiences, qualifications, etc.) that will attract the target market, should be developed. Take a look at the before and after examples (full-size images available at www.ladybug-design.com/blog) and gauge the value the objective statement holds versus the fully developed qualifications summary.

Moving on to the professional experience section, Jeremy’s original résumé was a list of bullets that did little to draw the reader’s attention to the most important pieces of information. When a reader looks at a résumé his/her eyes should be immediately drawn to the accomplishments presented. To do this most effectively, a paragraph and bullet point combination is best. Using the paragraph to convey the highlights of what you did on a daily basis, the attention is placed on the bullets that communicate how you went above and beyond and contributed to an employer. Take a look at the before and after versions, do the endless bullets on the before version allow for prioritization of content? Do they draw your attention to what the candidate did best? In the after version you will notice your attention is immediately drawn to the bold part of each bullet point which communicates the results of the candidate’s actions. Use this strategy to make sure the screener maximizes their 7-seconds in front of your résumé!

Lastly, the other main item that was tackled in Jeremy’s résumé was the formatting. The most effective résumés have a balance of great content and great design, so do not spend hours working on the content and only minutes working on the formatting. Through some added color, consistent formatting selections, incorporation of unique “challenge” statements, and utilization of the paragraph and bullet format, Jeremy’s résumé emerges as a document that will likely receive more than the average 7 seconds during the screening process.

Candidate’s Comments:

“I have already received several compliments on your work from peers, recruiters, and employees at FedEx Kinko’s that helped print copies of my new résumé. Thanks for the great job.”

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/

The Problem:

Steven’s original résumé did little to present him for his career of choice—historian or history teacher—and instead simply presented descriptions of tasks performed. Without a strategic presentation of the value he had contributed in his career thus far, he wasn’t getting his foot in the door. While he thoroughly enjoyed his current role, his goal was to find a position as a government historian but had found it difficult to relate the transferability of his teaching roles to that field.

The Content:

Steven’s new résumé was attacked on both the content and design fronts. For content, we thoroughly explored not only the tasks he had performed but the value he had contributed. From a fragmented list of seven or so bullet points on his original résumé, I was able to discuss his positions with him at length and create a much more “valuable” picture on his new résumé—comprised of solid overview paragraphs presenting responsibilities, followed by several fully developed accomplishment statements.

The Design:

For design, it was imperative, and appropriate, for Steven to have a creative look and feel to his résumé. To do this I developed a design that emulated that of a historical document, using brown hues and a symbolic image serving as the background to a list of core skills. Using a design that positions a candidate as how they want to be seen can be very effective in overcoming a lack of related experience. In Steven’s case, the historical look and feel would make the reader see him as a historian before even reading a word—a critical strategy to reinforce his candidacy for what he wanted to do, not what he had done in the past.

Differentiating:

Steven’s education section was also relocated to the end of his résumé, something that proved very important in making sure the hiring manager knew that his education was not his key qualifier. Given that he was competing against many other candidates with similar educational backgrounds, education could not be used as a differentiating factor. Instead, his master’s degree was highlighted in the qualifications summary—and after his name opening the résumé—and the transferability of his experiences were used to distinguish him from his competitors in this niche industry with limited opportunities and far more candidates than positions.

The Results:

Steven was kind enough to share his success story with me: “I submitted my completed résumé the day after I received it and was immediately called for an interview. I am completely certain that my new résumé will open many doors and career opportunities. I know that it makes me more visible and definitely stands out. I am very grateful, excited, and confident about my future prospects.” Steven now enjoys his new position in his targeted field.

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/

Candidate’s Background:

Sally, a licensed social worker who was recently downsized, sought to return to a direct care environment. After spending the past five years working with patients over the phone, she was eager to return to her roots in direct care. Sally wanted to focus her search on county and state positions, specifically working with seniors through the Agency on Aging.

Sally’s Original Résumé:

Sally had an existing résumé which was designed and written in an antiquated manner. Not only did the content solely focus on day-to-day responsibilities, but also the format was less than appealing. Sally opened her résumé with an objective statement, followed with fewer than 200 words describing seven years of experience, and ending with her education and volunteerism. In brief, her résumé was out of date and not effective.

Sally’s New Résumé:

Knowing that Sally wanted to return to her roots in direct care, and specifically target her job search to environments where she could work with an elder population, I gathered the related and transferable facts about her background during our phone consultation. As a modest person, Sally never thought of her positions in terms of the “value” she contributed; instead, she “was just doing her job.” I explained to Sally, as I do with many of my clients, that a résumé has to speak to what you did that will differentiate you from other candidates. If we simply conveyed day-to-day functions and did not speak to the “value” she contributed, then she would look equal to her competitors and not get the interviews she wanted. Fortunately, Sally did have functions she performed that were helpful in differentiating her candidacy, and even though some of them were not your traditional accomplishments, they were still very effective in positioning her ahead of the competition.

Vitally important in the success of Sally’s new résumé was creating a great format, presenting Sally as a social worker dedicated to the aging population, and overcoming the fact that her last position was not in a direct care setting. Through design of a soft and feminine résumé combined with strong content and a focus on the transferability of her last position, her résumé emerged as an effective tool in her search to secure a social work position in a direct care and eldercare environment.

Sally’s Results:

Sally was kind enough to email me to tell me of her job search success. She stated, “I just wanted to thank you so much for the wonderful job you did creating my résumé. It helped me land the job I have been looking for. I start  [next month] and will be a case manager for the Area Agency on Aging. I will be working in their program which helps seniors age 60 and up, who are on Medicaid, stay independent in their own homes. Anyway, thank you so much for your help.”

Keys to Sally’s Success:

The best results always come from a combination of a great résumé marketing a great candidate. Sally had the experience; she just wasn’t able to “package” it to get her foot in the door. Often I find my clients are so stuck on the fact their recent experience isn’t as related as they would like, they lose sight of the fact that they are still aptly qualified for what they want to do; and it often takes just a little objectivity to figure out how to market the transferability of recent less-related experiences. I’m thrilled Sally will enjoy her new position with her target employer.

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/