Writing an Effective Résumé

If I could offer only three ideas in regard to writing effective, interview-getting résumés, I would offer the following:

1) Use relevant key words - as many as you can make fit!

Many companies, especially larger ones, are turning to electronic recruiting tools to assist in the candidate sorting process. It may help to understand how a hiring process often works, in general terms, to understand why you must prepare your résumé for these digital tools as well as for human eyes.

A hiring process follows a few basic steps, most of the time. A gap in current staffing is identified, and candidates are sought to fill the gap. Bear this in mind: companies usually prefer to hire from within or through people who are already known to them. Why hire a stranger when they could hire someone referred by trusted employees or business partners? If a suitable candidate is not found through existing business and personal networks, a company may have to advertise. A job ad usually results in a wide variety of applications from candidates who are qualified, and also candidates who are not at all qualified or suitable for the role. How does the company sort through them?

Many companies, if they are advertising a position and anticipating a large number of applicants, will take advantage of the opportunity to sort through applications using a database. That means that when you apply through a website, and sometimes via e-mail as well, your application goes into a database, and it may not come out for review by human eyes unless it contains the desired set of key words for which the employer searches the database!

So if you have a job ad in front of you, use the list of requesting qualifications to inform your application. Use their words and ideas! If it helps, go through the ad point-by-point and identify where in your training and your experience you acquired the skills being sought. For a highly technical role, or a role with a long list of requirements, it might even be appropriate to include a section of key words!

If you use a good set of key words, when the employer uses a database to sort through the first cut of candidates, your application will come out! Then your application will have to pass a set of human eyes before you will be invited for an interview.

2) Pack your Profile or Summary of Qualifications

The top of half of the first page of your résumé will probably be looked at the most closely of any part of your application, especially since your application will only get 10-20 seconds of attention the first time (and could be last time, unfortunately) it is looked at. Your Profile or Summary of Qualifications must remain concise and also compelling. An HR person sorting through a pile of candidates relies on you to identify your strengths and show how you are a match for the role. S/he does not have the time on a first pass through a set of candidates to "figure out" how you are a fit. Her/his job is to pick a short list of candidates to be looked at more closely.

Your Summary should be brief - aim for no less than 5 points but no more than 7 or 8. It should include active verbs, accomplishments, and proof that you can/have perform(ed) the skills you identify. If an HR person only read your Summary, they should know enough about your background to be interested in meeting you.

3) Focus on Accomplishments

Lists of duties are dull. And just because your 'responsibilities included' X, Y and Z doesn't mean you did them well. Talk about what you did well, differently, or better than previous employers or coworkers. You can often infer that information.

For example: I worked with a young man who had been made the assistant manager at a fast food restaurant while he was still in high school. Wow! And he had on his résumé something dull like "counted cash registers". There was nothing about how he got to be the assistant manager. He explained to me that he made a great suggestion about the cash registers that earned him the managerial spot - he had noticed that other fast food restaurants close most of the tills after a certain point at night, since business rapidly drops off after 7 or 8pm. As it was, at least 1 staff member was staying for 1 1/2 hours after close to count, which made no sense since most of the staff were just standing around for the last hour of the night anyway. So the restaurant stared closing 3 of the 4 tills early and counting them when they had staff there still. We worked it out - if the staff member who stayed made as little ast $8/hour, his suggestion was saving the restaurant at least $2000/year! So we phrased it as a problem solved, in terms of an accomplishment: Recommended closing unneeded tills before restaurant close, saving 300+ hours and $2000+ per year.

Much more interesting than "counted cash registers" isn't it? And it shows an analytical and thoughtful approach to working.

For each bullet item you list under a job description on your résumé (or in an Accomplishments section - if you have some great ones, you may want one), if you can ask the question, "So what?" you have not given enough information about it. Identify how you saved time, money, or solved a problem. How did you make something easier? more efficient? Even if you can't attach a numerical value (although that is powerful), can you attach a qualitative term like "significantly"? How did you encourage repeat business or attract a new customer? Include results whenever you can as well - "provided customer service" doesn't say whether your customers came back, or whetever they liked the service you provided!

Be specific where you can. Specifics sell. Think of every laundry soap commercial you have ever seen - what are you guaranteed to see? Specific kinds of stains, and then a very clean and stain-free result. Examples are interesting to read and provide proof of your qualifications. Anyone can say they are organized. So what? Saying you organized an annual silent auction that enabled your company to donate over $500 to a charity every year is much more powerful.



Implementing these ideas will make your job applications more interesting to both the digital recruiting tools and to human recruiters.

Writing Effective Applications - Handy Weblinks

Here, JOB APPLICATION = Resumé + Cover Letter

There are fantastic resources available on the internet to assist you with writing effective job applications. Nothing beats a personal touch (ie, networking your way to the job in the first place, or at least getting the name of the person who will be reviewing applications), but at the sites below you will find some great ideas on capturing an employer's interest and getting that interview!

E-MAIL ETIQUETTE

Many employers want their applications by e-mail now - what should it look like? Do you attach the resumé and cover letter or put them in the body or both? If they don't go in the body, what should you say in it?

http://www.career.vt.edu/JOBSEARC/email.htm
http://www.job-hunt.org/onlinejobsearchguide/article_e_mail_basics.shtml
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchtips/a/jobsearchtool.htm
http://www.quintcareers.com/e-resumes.html
http://www.quintcareers.com/email_cover_letters.html

All of your documents, no matter how they are submitted, should be focused on accomplishments, not just what you did:
http://www.quintcareers.com/accomplishments_worksheet.html


RESUME WRITING

http://www.quintcareers.com/resres.html
http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_samples.html
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/resumes/a/target.htm
http://www.careerbuilder.ca/CA/JobSeeker/CareerAdvice/Articles.aspx
http://www.jobsetc.ca/category_drilldown.jsp?category_id=106&crumb=1&crumb=34


COVER LETTER WRITING

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/coverletters/a/cuttingedge.htm
http://www.quintcareers.com/covres.html
http://www.quintcareers.com/cover_letter_samples.html
http://candocareersolutions.ca/work/benefits.htm - see the samples!
http://www.careerbuilder.ca/CA/JobSeeker/CareerAdvice/Articles.aspx


Overall, QuintCareers.com is a great site: http://www.quintcareers.com/Career_Job-Search_A-Z_index.html. So is http://jobsearch.about.com/. I would add the caveat that they are American, and resumé standards differ slightly in Canada, but overall they say very little that I can disagree with!

Self-Assessment - Know Yourself to Sell Yourself!

Most people moving into the workforce today will have 4 or 5 different careers and employers throughout their working life. Change is becoming a constant, and the change from one career to another could be very significant. How does a worker choose a direction? And how does one sell oneself in a brand new field or for a brand new job?

Like any marketing plan, your self-marketing plan in your new (or even your current) field requires that you know your profuect: you. You have to identify what you have to offer and make it clear to potential employers how you will benefit their organization, and what features you bring that make you a better candidate than any of the others they might interview.

How to Assess Your Skills

Think back to your previous work. Don't forget the unpaid work (volunteerism, extra projects, helping friends).

What did you do well? or differently?

Even if you don't think you stood out, compare yourself to your coworkers. Were you consistently on time? Ahead of schedule? Offering more useful ideas? Better at involving teammates in a process?

What good results did you have?

Even coming from fields were results aren't directly observable, try to identify a few: happy customers; positive comments from supervisors, coworkers or clients; parts of your work turning into a finished product. If you can quantify something (ie, doubled efficiency of e-mail communication by using filters to sort the majority of incoming requests; saved $2500/year by reducing end-of-shift till counting time), that's even more powerful.

Identify transferable skills.

These are sometimes called soft skills or employability skills. Some of these might include: Writing concisely, Identifying resources, Providing support for others, Coordinating tasks, and so on. (For reference, see http://www.quintcareers.com/transferable_skills.html) That said, do not simply identify a "shopping list" of skills. Anyone can say they are "organized." How has that organization shown in your work? Improved the way you worked? Helped your organization to achieve a goal? Provide some specific detail, or the skill loses much of its power.

Choosing a Career Direction - What skills will I need?

First of all, talk to some people who work in the area you are considering. This is called Informational Interviewing. Why? It might not be what you thought it was about. People with experience in the area you are thinking of moving into may also be able to offer you advice on how to get into the area, and what training - if any - you might need to succeed at it. (See http://www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html) You're not asking for jobs - you just want the information.

Then do some market research. What are the prospects in the new area I'm exploring? What kind of training do I need and where can I get it? How much can I expect to be paid? The Government of Canada offers some great information at http://www.jobfutures.ca/ and http://www.labourmarketinformation.ca/.

Still not sure you're cut out for it? You could try some personality and interest assessment. See a career counsellor for personal assistance. Some brief online tools from the Government of Canada include http://www.jobsetc.ca/toolbox/quizzes/quizzes_home.do?&lang=e.

All of the above will help you to identify what skills you will need (many of which you will already have, others you will need to acquire) in your new area.

Conclusion

When your instincts are telling you to try something new, be it a new job or a new field, do some solid self-research and solid research of your new area before leaping into it. It's important to know what your feet will come down on when you land!