Rockin' Resumes

Stephanie lays out some "rules of the road" for drafting and circulating eye-catching resumes, including the choice between DIY or professional, the importance of brevity and quantitatives, and why your resume should be like your Social Security number.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi, this is Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead Search.

(00:05):
Today I wanna talk to you a little bit about resume writing.
I am a firm believer that you need to treat your resume like your socialsecurity number, and that you only give it out when absolutely necessary.
Earlier this week I was on the phone with a candidate who is currentlyemployed, but becoming unhappy in their current situation and had asked me to confidentially help them look into a couple of different opportunities.

(00:30):
So we talked about, Hey, what have you done on your own?
And he mentioned that a little while back he'd given his resumeto another recruiter who had been shopping it around town.
I was dumbfounded.
This is the absolute worst way to do a search.
It sends a very direct message to hiring managers of the market that you aredesperate and that you don't care where you go, but you just have got to land.

(00:54):
The other thing is this candidate is currently employed.
What happens if the message gets back to their manager that they're out looking?
It puts his current job at risk.
If you are in a situation, whether you're active or a passive candidate,but you're open to hearing about different things, we have LinkedIn.
People can see your profile.

(01:14):
You can write an executive summary, but when a resume hits a desk, it is a message.
This person is looking, looking to leave their currentorganization and are interested in working with you.
So candidates, please guard your resume with your life.
If you send it out, make sure it's only going to organizationsthat you know you are interested in working with.

(01:36):
It goes to hiring managers who have a position that you know you're interested in and qualified for.
Otherwise, you can send an executive summary, you can refer 'em to a profile that you mighthave online, but otherwise it doesn't get sent out and you need to protect it with your life.
And one of the most common questions I get is when people start to get intoa mode of where they start thinking about getting their resume together.

(02:01):
I often get asked, Hey, is this a DIY or should I get some professional help?
I'm putting together my resume.
And here's some general guidelines on that.
If you have been keeping your resume up to date over the last several years,maybe updating it every two or three years, or every four or five years, it may be for internal promotions, it may be, Hey, I made a move in the last five years.

(02:27):
Or it might be just, Hey, for my own, my own records I updated at the end of every year.
Chances are if you are thinking about taking that resume out to the open market, this is a DIY job.
It's a do it yourself.
However, if you find yourself in the camp that you haven't put together a resume in 5, 10,15, 20 years, or if it's something like, Hey, I don't even think I have a resume anymore.

(02:55):
It's been so long, that's probably not a job for arecruiter or even you to try and start from scratch.
That is probably gonna be best served by getting some professional help.
When you do work with a professional resume writing service, most of them,not all, but most of them tend to operate in kind of a a generalist mentality.

(03:18):
And where they can be really good with you is if you have nothingor if it's really outdated, they can help you with language.
They'll help you remember some of your accomplishments and achievements.
They can start at a, at a broad level and at least get things going.
For most of you that is.
Absolutely worth your time to outsource that.

(03:41):
Now, once you have a general platform, that's when it's time to bring it back home.
That's when it's time to partner with a and a recruiter in your niche to say,Hey, this is a good place to start, but here are the tweaks and the fine points that we know have to be on there to get specific attention in your niche.

(04:03):
One of the most frequently asked questions that Iget, Hey, would you please take a look at my resume?
First and foremost, absolutely all day.
And I'm happy to do that because I know I see enough and I know what my clients see.
I can provide this to you all day, every day.
But here's some fundamental things.
As you think about putting together your resume orupdating your resume, here's a few rules of the road.

(04:28):
First, keep in mind your resume.
It's a snapshot.
It's a bulleted outline of your professional experience that the idea behind it is to someoneto take a quick look on average it's seven seconds and decide they wanna talk more with you.
So the first rule of the road is keep it simple.

(04:50):
Keep it short and again, keep it bulleted.
We just want the basic information.
Second rule of the road, because it needs to be short and concise and bulleted.
It needs to show proof.
It's not a narrative.
Most people that are gonna be looking at your resume, they're in your field.

(05:11):
They know what your job title means.
They know what you are responsible for.
They don't care.
What they want to see is proof that you're good at what you do.
So anything quantitative that can show how good you are, that's the meat and potatoes of a resume.

(05:32):
Most of us.
We either make money for a company, we save a company money, or weare part of a process that ultimately makes or saves a company money.
So can you articulate this in a bulleted simple form that gets people to say in seven seconds, yep.

(05:53):
I wanna talk to this person.
Now a few other things I said this is supposed to be a professional highlight, but often someof us put some things on there that are also relevant because they show our well-roundedness.
So extracurricular activities, your involvement in the community.
Your education, those are absolutely relevant as well.

(06:14):
So again, if it's something that you've kept relativelyup to date, yeah, ask your favorite recruiter.
Hopefully it's me, and just get those small tweaks.
If it's something you haven't lifted a finger on in quitea while, it's probably time for some professional help.