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R-E-S-U-M-E, Resume!

Feb 10 2019

One Valentine’s Day tradition is to spell out a partner’s name and use each letter to assign a loving trait to the partner (for example, E-V-E stands for Eager, Virtuous, Excellent).

Okay, it is silly, but today I want to see how that Valentine’s tradition works out for resumes.

R stands for respectful—enough respect for yourself to tell the truth on your resume and enough respect for the job you are applying for to make sure you have the skills, education, and accomplishments that the employer is looking for.

E stands for energized—a commitment to the job search that begins with the brag book you are keeping right now (yes?) to track your accomplishments before you forget them. It is also the energy to continue sending out resumes even if you think a job offer is certain; you never know what will happen between a stellar interview and a written job offer.

S stands for strategic—you need to know the position, industry, and company you are targeting so that your resume is strategically focused and you are prepared to ask intelligent questions (and give intelligent answers) during the interview.

U stands for uniform—the format, message, spelling, and grammar of your resume must be uniform from start to finish. If you change from bold headings to italic, if you waffle between a leadership and staff position, if you spell startup in one place and start-up in another, and if you randomly leave off periods at the ends of sentences, you are showing inconsistencies and a lack of attention that may undermine your resume.

M stands for modern—today’s hiring managers and recruiters often see a resume only after it is chosen by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You must have a resume that is formatted and written to satisfy the ATS—and consider having a separate resume for networking for jobs. You must also be aware of social media. Hiring managers and recruiters will look online to catch any discrepancies with the professional image your resume presents. In fact, many hiring managers and recruiters will search for candidates online before a resume ever hits their desk. The vast majority will research you online and conduct an extensive background search before they officially hire you.

E stands for engaging—your resume should be written in everyday English, with active verbs and clearly explained accomplishments that keep the interest of hiring managers and recruiters. Avoid too many acronyms and make sure that technical information is described in the context of accomplishments so that even nontechnical readers get a sense of your strengths. Be as specific as possible: “ranked 3 out of 44 salespeople” is more memorable than “top rated salesperson.”

Is your resume respectful, energized, strategic, uniform, modern, and engaging? I help job seekers every day to reach those goals for their resumes. Contact me today—and happy Valentine’s Day!

Twenty Mistakes You Never Want to Make on a Resume

Oct 07 2018

Transposing numbers on or misspelling your contact information.
Misspelling the names of companies you used to work for (Bloomingdale’s, not Bloomingdales).
Changing the way you write location information for companies (New York or NY) or the way you write dates of employment (2000-2001 or 2000 to 2001; Oct. or October).
Forgetting to provide your contact information.
Lying.
Using the words “responsible for” over and over when there are much better, stronger verbs.
Showing large, unexplained gaps in your resume.
Giving equal space to an entry-level job you held 15 years ago and a management job you hold now.
Using an extremely small font to fit everything on one page.
Changing the format from page 1 to page 2 (for example, changing the types of bullets or the use of bolding).
Giving contact information for references or writing “references available upon request.”
Providing links on your resume that do not work (for example, to LinkedIn or your portfolio).
Letting compromising social media photos or comments remain online—and even worse, linking to them on your resume.
Describing an old job in the present tense.
Inflating your job title or responsibilities.
Forgetting to proofread. You should proofread every time you make a change to your resume.
Giving information that is not relevant to the job; for example, the only time you want to mention your politics is if you are applying for or held a position with a political group.
Listing accomplishments without any proof; for example, “superb sales person” instead of “sold 120% of national goal.”
Not having someone else proofread your resume.
Not seeking a professional to help you with your resume.

If any of these mistakes appear on your resume, contact Robin’s Resumes® and we will help you fix them.

Updating Your Resume

Mar 30 2014

When you update your resume, mistakes may easily happen. For example, in every resume achievements in old jobs are described in the past tense (“Managed 15 accountants”); achievements in current jobs are described in the present tense (“Manage 15 accountants”). You must be careful, when updating your resume, to make sure that all your old jobs are now described as being in the past, not the present.

Another common error in updating a resume is to keep the information that is already there, even if it is no longer relevant to your current career path. When you were first starting out, your achievements in your first job or your grade point average in college were relevant. After a few years, such details are less important to recruiters and hiring managers; they can be summarized or eliminated altogether, especially if they do not relate to your current career path.

In writing an update to your resume, make sure you keep the format consistent (if the format is modern and appropriate). It is easy to create inconsistency in the style of bullets; to suddenly omit the comma before “and” even though you use it every other place; or to forget what version of a common abbreviation you used previously (such as U.S. versus US versus USA).

Finally, and most important, it is not enough to simply paste new information onto an old resume. You want to look at the impression made by the entire updated resume. Does it show a progression in your achievements and skills? Does it focus on the qualifications most mentioned in current job postings and advertisements? Will hiring managers and recruiters be able to easily find the information that convinces them to give you an interview?

Updating your resume requires the type of care, professionalism, and attention to detail that Robin’s Resumes® is known for. Contact us today.

The Too Fussy Resume

Feb 02 2014

As much as I advocate resumes that are detailed, targeted, and professionally formatted, sometimes I find myself cautioning job seekers against resumes that are too detailed, too targeted, and overdesigned.

One mistake is to give equal detail to jobs that are directly relate to your career goals and those that have no relation at all. For example, with the recent ups and downs in the job market, some people have temporarily taken positions out of their main field of interest. To return to their preferred field, they may want a resume that contains a “Career Highlights” or “Major Achievements” section before the job history. They may also want to minimize detail on their current job and give more space (and weight) to more relevant jobs.

Another mistake is to state in your resume, cover letter or email that you are seeking employment in a company of a certain size or with a certain structure (family business, multinational, great work/life balance). You never want to close the door completely on an opportunity. For example, a job seeker looking to work in a small company may find that a very large company is structured into business units that feel like individual small companies. Further, the more conditions you list right on your resume, the more companies will consider you a potentially difficult employee—someone they do not want to deal with.

Finally, it is a mistake to format a resume with multiple typefaces, colored fonts, columns, and illustrations. Such resumes are often rejected by automated resume screen systems, which cannot handle complicated formats. They are also rejected by human hiring managers and recruiters who don’t have the time to work their way through imaginative layouts to find the information they want.

For resumes that hit the right note all the way through, contact Robin’s Resumes® today.

Updating Your Resume: Watch Out for These Problems

Nov 18 2012

When you take out that resume from five or ten (or more) years ago, you should do more than simply add your most information on the top. Check for these often overlooked problems:

Verb tense. Your previous job is now in the past. Make sure you change all the verbs from the present tense (“Manage 5 person department”) to the past tense (“Managed 5 person department”).
Contact information. You probably have a cell phone, email address and LinkedIn bio now; add that contact information and make sure your home phone and address are still current.
The amount of space you give each previous position. Is your first job out of college even relevant? You may be better off dropping earlier jobs or listing them only by title and name of company under “Previous Employment” or some other generic title.
Fussy formatting. You will likely submit your resume electronically, not on paper; in any case, the HR department will enter it into an electronic Application Tracking System. Formatting that used to make paper resumes stand out simply gets in the way now.

Do not let your resume define you as inattentive to detail and out of touch with today’s world. As a professional resume writer, my job is to make sure that your resume portrays you in the best possible light for today’s marketplace. Contact Robin’s Resumes® to find out how I can help with your resume update.