Confidential and Proprietary

Resume Development

WELCOME

WELCOME

2

Learning Objectives

Understand:

The purpose of your resume

The key components of a resume

How to choose the best resume format

How to write clear, concise accomplishment statements

How to edit/proof your resume

Draft:

An accomplishment statement

A professional profile/summary statement

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What do you know already?

1. What is a resume?

2. What is the key purpose of a resume?

3. What are differences of a resume today vs. a resume in the past?

4. Do you need a resume to get a job?

5. How many times will you rewrite your resume, and how long will it take?

6. How many pages should it be?

7. How much time does an HR person spend reading a resume?

8. What key information should be included in a resume?

(20/20, 2.4)

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Preparation Phase

Beginning Resume

ReviewAccomplishments

DefineAbilities

Match upInterests

Strengths!CareerObjective

(20/20, 1.8)

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Preparation Tips

Gather/organize needed information

Complete assessments

– Career Survey– Birkman– Values Sort

Write your own resume

1 – 2 pages

Keep the look simple

Avoid using personal pronouns

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Preparation Tips

Use the past tense

Choose strong action verbs

Annotate and spell out abbreviations

Avoid colored paper, fancy folds, photos

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Marketing or Misleading

96% of HR professionals conduct reference checks

93% of those said they did not hire the candidate as a result of misrepresentations on applications/resumes.

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Common Misleading Information

Inaccurate dates Degree inflation Overstating roles and duties Misrepresenting technical abilities Claiming language fluency Providing a fake address Inflating grade point averages

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Marketing

You CANNOT change your dates of employment

You CAN, to some degree, change your titles

You CANNOT change your academic background

You CAN leave out irrelevant jobs and data

You CANNOT get away with lying just because your company no longer exists

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A Resume Answers Three Questions

1. What do I want to do next?

Self assessment (Career Survey, Birkman, Values Sort)

2. Why can I do that?

Summary: Broad overview of scope of experience

3. What is my evidence that I can do that?

Professional experience Key results/achievements Education/certifications, etc.

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The employer wants to know…

1. Can you fill my need?

2. Will you stay for the long term?

3. Are you professional?

4. Do you fit?

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What should be included?

Summary/professional profile

Professional experience

– Companies– YEARS of employment– Job scope statements– Job titles– Accomplishments

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What should be included?

Education

Professional development / training

Technical skills

Licenses & Certifications

Military experience

Professional affiliations / memberships

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What Not to Include

Months of employment

Personal information, physical characteristics

Hobbies and interests

“References available upon request”

Irrelevant Information

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Art and Science

Guidelines not rules

Many forms of a “best” resume

Work with your coach

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Resume Heading

Name

Contact information

– Address, phone number, web resume site– Email (professional)

Abbreviated heading on subsequent pages

Save as a template

Use for all correspondence

(20/20, 2.5)

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Career Profile/Summary

Follows heading

Outlines your qualifications and value add for an employer

Usually written last

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Professional Experience

Makes and supports your case

Last job first

Detail last 10-15 years, what you are, not what you were.

Company description is optional.

Include Job Scope Statements.

Strengths, contributions, and accomplishments are bulleted.

NAMEStreet Address

City, State, ZIP CodeTelephone

Email

SUMMARY

Purchasing Agent with extensive experience in domestic and international manufacturing. Solid background in logistics, procurement, material and production control. Broad…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ABC COMPANY, NYC, NY 19XX-200XMajor international widget manufacturing company with sales of $XB worldwide.

Senior Purchasing AgentPurchased raw materials for the widget manufacturing operations. Supervised 4 purchasing clerks.

· Accomplishment #1 · Accomplishment #2 · Accomplishment #3

(20/20, 2.8)

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Scope Statements

Answers the questions:

What were you hired to do?

At what level?

For whom?

With whom?

(20/20 2.9, 2.10)

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Scope Statements

Demonstrates specific experience or role

Qualifies you for a position

Begins with an action verb

Includes dimensions, range, staff size, budget and reporting relationship, if relevant

Demonstrates general experience and responsibilities

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Responsibility or Accomplishment?

Responsibilities:

The tasks and activities you were hired to do

Accomplishments:

The results you produced and how you achieved them

(20/20, 2.8 – 2.10)

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Accomplishment Statements

Support your career goal

Highlight actions which showcase your strengths

Appear in bullet form for easy readability

Based on your CAR’s

Challenge, Action, Result (CAR)

(20/20, 2.9)

Why should we believe you can do what you say you can do?

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CAR

Challenge: What was the situation?

Action: What did you do and how?

Result: What was the impact?

Challenge not usually included on your resume.

Accomplishments

(20/20, 2.9)

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Accomplishment Statement Samples

Not specific

Conducted many training programs in several states which reduced problems.

Better

Best Reduced customer complaints by 22% in a 6-month period by conducting more than 45 service technician training programs throughout an 8-state region.

Conducted more than 45 service technician training programs throughout an 8-state region reducing customer complaints by 22% in a 6-month period.

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Accomplishment Examples

Improved support services 50% in 6 months by launching support program that improved the technical delivery of service co-provider.

Researched and recovered $25 million in out-of-balance conditions during bank systems conversion and post conversions.

Increased revenue $2 million by designing and implementing an automated customer follow-up program.

Reduced average customer call-waiting time to 30 seconds from 2 minutes by designing and implementing a call triage system.

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Avoid Over Used Phrases

Instead of: Experience working in fast paced environment.

Try: Registered 120+ third shift emergency patients per 7 hour shift. Best?

Instead of: Excellent written communication skills

Try: Wrote jargon free user guide for 11,000 users. Best?

Instead of: Team player with cross functional awareness

Try: Collaborated with clients, A/R and Sales to increase speed of receivables and prevent interruption of service to clients. Best?

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Accomplishment Draft

Using your Resume Guidelines Worksheet page 3

Draft:

Job scope statement

One accomplishment

10 minutes to write

5 minutes to share with partner

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Education

Further supports your case

Start with highest level of achievement.

Include College, Training, Seminars, Certifications, Professional Development.

Identify major if related.

Years are optional

NAME

Page 2

 

ABC COMPANY, NYC, NY 19XX-200XMajor international widget manufacturing company with sales of $XB worldwide.

Senior Purchasing AgentPurchased raw materials for the widget manufacturing operations. Supervised 4 purchasing clerks.

· Accomplishment #1 · Accomplishment #2 · Accomplishment #3

EDUCATION

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MEMBERSHIPS

AWARDS

(20/20, 2.14)

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Other Sections

Affiliations and memberships

Military experience

Awards/honors

Technical skills

Licenses and certifications

Remember, “Is it RELEVANT?” (20/20, 2.11 –

2.16)

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Addendum

Patents

Published books/articles

Presentations

Projects, consulting engagements, legal cases, and financial transactions

Client lists, where not proprietary to former employer

(20/20, 2.16)

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Professional Profile/Summary

Considered by many to be MOST important part of your resume!

600 managers surveyed: overwhelming majority agreed.

Only about 5% of resumes contain this key section.

Robin Ryan

(author of Winning Resumes and Winning Cover Letters)

(20/20 2.7)

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Summary

State your case, what are your qualifications?

Positioning statement that highlights qualifications and areas of expertise, Unique Selling Points, Strengths and Deliverables.

Industries, positions and functions you’ve held, range and scope.

Narrative or Narrative followed by bullet points.

Usually written last.

NAMEStreet Address

City, State, ZIP CodeTelephone

Email

SUMMARY

Purchasing Agent with extensive experience in domestic and international manufacturing. Solid background in logistics, procurement, material and production control. Broad…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ABC COMPANY, NYC, NY 19XX-200XMajor international widget manufacturing company with sales of $XB worldwide.

Senior Purchasing AgentPurchased raw materials for the widget manufacturing operations. Supervised 4 purchasing clerks.

· Accomplishment #1 · Accomplishment #2 · Accomplishment #3

(20/20 2.7)

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Summary Draft

Using your Resume Guidelines Worksheet, page 9

Draft a summary for your resume.

Brand statement

Qualifies you for your desired position

Summarizes:

– Industries – Key roles/responsibilities– Key strengths and skills– Unique value add

15 minutes to draft summary

5 minutes to share with a partner

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Transferable Skills

Key skills desired by employers

Critical when changing career focus

Includes:

– Leadership - Teamwork– Interpersonal - Communication– Flexibility - Problem-solving– Organizational - Analytical– Quantitative - Others?

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Key Words

What are “Key” words?

Do you know the key words for your profession?

Key words relate to your qualifications:

– Technical expertise– Industry jargon– Product knowledge– Personality traits– Academic credentials

How to determine your key words

– Review ads and job postings for your targeted jobs– Review company websites and how they describe their culture and

employees.

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Key Word Samples

Administrative

Document preparation

Word processing

Special projects

Administrative support

Team player

MS Word 2007

Multi-line phones

Scheduling/ organizational skills

80 wpm

Excel

Web Designer

Windows

Internet servers

Page Mill

HTML

PDF

Photoshop

Project coordination

Sales

Exceed quota

Travel

Lead generation

Customer support

Inside sales

Presentation skills

Account management

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Key Word Qualification Summary

Sales professional

Achievement oriented sales professional with 15 years of success in international trade and global marketing. Skilled in developing marketing programs, coordinating new product introductions and providing customer support. Experience includes cold calling, new business development and key account management.

Rather than…

Achievement oriented with 15 years of successful experience and proven ability to meet objectives, communicate with clients, and quickly excel in new industries

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Using Key Words

94% of the top 500 U.S. companies use computer programs to evaluate resumes

Do not creatively try to “hide” your key words in your resume

Not just for on-line applications. People visually scan for these as well

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Choosing a Resume Format

CHRONOLOGICAL FUNCTIONAL

Name/Address/Phone/Email Name/Address/Phone/Email

Objective (optional) Objective (optional)

Summary Summary

Professional Experience(including selected accomplishments)

Selected Accomplishments(under specific functional areas of expertise)

Education Professional Experiences

• Company name, city, state, dates

•Job titles

No job scope or accomplishment statements

Optional Sections Education

Optional Sections

(20/20, 2.17)

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Choosing a Resume Format

CHRONOLOGICAL FUNCTIONAL

A Chronological format calls the reader’s attention to your recent experience.

A Functional format directs the reader to your functional strengths and qualifications.

Continuing in the same occupation or industry

Making a significant career change (production to sales; financial planner to teacher)

Career shows steady growth with progressive responsibilities

Job objective is different from your experience

Job objective is similar to recent experience

Experience is gained in different, relatively unconnected jobs

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Hybrid

Purpose similar to functional

Combines both the key features of the functional and the chronological resume.

– Key accomplishments listed right after summary– Professional experience written the same as chronological,

including job scope and accomplishment statements.

Most recruiters prefer chronological with job scope statements or hybrid over functional resume.

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Hybrid Resume

Summary

Key Accomplishments

Work Experience

Job scope statement

Remaining accomplishment statements

Other Sections

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Print and On-line Resumes

WORD VERSION INTERNET VERSION

Smith-Mary.doc Smith-Mary.txt

Used for:

Printing

Face-to-face

Attaching to email

Used for:

Posting on-line

Copying and pasting

into email messages

Includes appropriate formatting for attractiveness

Unformatted for use in electronic or digital applications

Caution when working with newer Windows versions: .docx files

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The “Internet” Resume

Tips

Create and save plain text version

- No italics, lines, graphs, columns or underlining

- Limit to 60 characters or 6 inches wide

- Include Keywords

Proof, edit, proof

Cut and paste into on-line posting sites

Print out selected areas to proof before posting

When emailing a “Word” resume, consider saving it as a PDF and then mail

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Professional Bios

To Introduce Yourself to a Broader Audience

Marketing tool for consulting assignments

For speaking engagements

To confirm credentials

To add to a business proposal

In lieu of a resume

No more than three-quarters of a page

Conversational tone – third person voice

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Possible Concerns

Gaps in work history

Little or no experience in the field you are targeting

Almost all experience is with one employer

Lack of consistency in job history

Job hopper appearance

Lack formal degree

Jobs held many years ago

Age

Work history and education from another country

Others?

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References

A great networking opportunity!

Contact:

Now/soon

After the interview

After the expected call

Thank you

(20/20, 2.27)

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Help your references help you!

Consider the key skills, knowledge and abilities (KSA’s) and experience for which you need references.

Share with your references what you would like them to emphasize.

Consider developing a master list of references sorted by your KSA’s

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References

Reference for Mary Smith:

Jocelyn Hartman

Vice President, Sales and Marketing

ABC Manufacturing

Contact Information:

120 South Main Street

Anytown, ST 74209

(777) 489-1539

jhartman@isp.com

Relationship: Former Supervisor at company name.

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Final Thoughts

Is all the information relevant?

Is it true?

Is it positive?

Is there “white” space?

Is it clear, correct, and concise?

Have you considered search engine marketing?

Did you use the editing checklist on page 2.21?

Greatest emphasis on most recent work?

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FINELY

Have you mad doubly sure there sure no typos?

Have you used the right sintax?

Have you used proper puncturation?

REMEMBRE

Its got to be letter purrfect

Have your resume “proof read” by at least two people!

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Tools and Next Steps

Tools:

8eResume Basics including on-line Resources:Resume Examples, Resume Checklist,

Resume Development Tips, Action Verbs by Skill Area

Next Steps:

Develop Keywords, Resume Editing, Coaching,

Post to Right’s Resume Bank on RfH