Writing
A Resume That Gets Results
Selling Yourself
- Part II
Job
Search in the Internet Age, Part I
The
Interview - Selling Yourself, Part III
Job
Search By Workers 50 & Over, Part IV
Have you been stymied in your search for information on writing
a "successful" resume? The resources available are astounding.
Walk into to any large bookstore like Barnes & Noble, Borders or Crown
Books and you will find a surprisingly large section of books devoted entirely
to writing a "winning" resume and "attention getting" cover
letters. Or, log onto Amazon Book's internet web site (www.amazon.com)
and do a keyword search on "resume writing." You will be confronted
by an amazing list of more than 200 book titles. Want more information? Log
onto a web browser like Yahoo, do a keyword search on "resume writing" and
you will find more than 135 sites waiting to offer you the "secrets" of
writing that "winning" resume. In addition, the numerous "job
search" web sites on the internet all list resume writing tips, or links
to such help sites. Talk about data overload!
I will not attempt to suggest which one of the available books or web sites
are the "best." Rather to offer suggestions on what to do, or what
not to do in writing a resume that will get the right person's attention,
recruiter, hiring manager or both, and generate the interest necessary to
get you an interview.
The authors of the more than 200 books offered by Amazon Books would probably
argue that their individual suggestions for writing a "winning" resume
are the best! However, they would probably all agree that the main purpose
of your resume is to get you an interview!
A resume, no matter how well written, WILL
NOT get you a job! However, if written properly, it will
get you an interview. Your actions during the interview will determine
whether or not you get a second, a third interview and ultimately the
job. But, that is Part III of this series.
Let's look at this from a "seller" and "buyer" viewpoint.
You are the "seller." Your resume is one of your "sales tool." Through
your resume, you are attempting to "sell" a recruiter or hiring
manager (the "buyer") on your skills and experience. Your resume
must create excitement in the "buyer" for your "product":
your skills and experience.
The "buyer" is interested in two basics: 1) what skills and experience
do you bring to the table that are saleable?, 2) How do your skills and experience
fit the current needs of my employer or client? Your resume should answer
these two questions or generate enough interest so that the recruiter wants
to interview you. Remember, "buyers" look upon resumes as a means
of separating the "wheat" from the "chaff." With is this
mind, let's move on to actually writing your resume.
Most professional recruiters generally categorize resumes as "chronological" or "functional".
Many call "chronological" resumes "tomb stones" because
they read like an obituary. The "chronological" [sample I] resume
lists your work experience stating with the present or most recent employer,
working backwards throughout your career. The "functional" [sample
II] resume highlights your skills and accomplishments. More recently, the
trend has been to combine the best features of the two resume formats.
Realtors have long stated that the three keys to "success" in
real estate are location, location and location. In resume writing, the three
keys to "success" are image, image and image. Once your resume
has been picked up by a recruiter, it has approxi-mately 30 to 45 seconds
in which to dazzle him or her to the point of being selected for an interview.
During recent years, I have spoken with numerous recruiters, both internal
and external, who indicated they receive between 50 to 100 resumes for each
credit position they attempt to fill. With these kinds of odds, your resume
must stand out from the rest, or it goes into the "rejected" pile.
Remember, separating the "wheat" from the "chaff."
Your resume should be written in a fairly conservative font style. One
which is clean, sharp and easily read. Times Roman or Arial should work well.
Remember that many recruiters, internal and external, use resume scanning
software and what you think as fancy or eye-catching font styles may simply
be kicked out as non-scannable. Thereby, depriving you of an interview opportunity.
Your resume should always be printed in black ink on white, or slightly off-white,
standard letter-sized bond paper. Avoid colored or non-standard sized paper.
It is gimmicky and usually generates the wrong results. Whenever possible,
use a laser or ink-jet printer.
Ideally, your resume should be no more than one page long. However, it is not
always possible to include a person's entire career, work experience and skills
on one page, so if necessary, two pages are acceptable. However, anything beyond
two pages will more than likely not be read by anyone except the author. Realistically,
recruiters are not interested in your work experience beyond ten (10) years
(other than to show stability) since it probably won't be applicable to the
position for which you are applying. Remember, recruiters are primarily interested
in what you can do for their employers or clients NOW! What skills and experience
do you possess that can make an immediate impact and produce immediate results.
I recall an interview I had with a large firm during which the Corporate Treasurer
asked: "What can you do for me the day you are hired and how soon can
I expect to see tangible results?"
Resume Format [see Samples]:
Heading
List name, address (street, city, state, zip code), telephone number and
e-mail address if you have access to the internet. If you do not have an
answering machine or voicemail service on your home phone, always list a "message" telephone
number. Re-cruiters will not waste a lot of their time calling you back if
there is no answer at the tele-phone number you list.
Career Summary
Many resume writing "experts" recommend the use of an "Objective" section
on resumes. However, it has been my experience that the use of an "Objective" section
is too confining tends to restrict a recruiter's attention to the balance
of your resume. As an example; if you were applying for a middle-level credit
management position and the stated "objective" of your resume was "a
position as a senior-level credit manager" or "a position of Director
of Corporate Credit," a recruiter would probably stop reading at that
point and discard your resume.
It has been found to be much more effective to list a brief, positive recap
of your career accomplishments. Use "action verbs" and limit your
description to only 3 or four short sentences. Remember, this is the "hook" section.
The purpose is to "hook" the reader's attention so they will read
the rest of your resume and decide to call you for an interview.
Computer or Technical Skills
This section is your choice. If your overall work experience is limited
to one or two employers and you have extensive computer or technical skills,
the use of the section will beef up the appearance of your resume. However,
if your overall work experience is exten-sive and your computer skills are
limited, I would suggest omitting this section. If you learned your computer
skills while working for various employers, then list the skills under each
employer.
Work Experience
If your work career is limited and you have only had a few employers, this
section should concentrate on listing your accomplishments in each position
for each employer. Use action verbs to describe your activities and/or accomplishments: "reduced
DSO by 10 days;" "increased cash flow/revenues by $$$'s……;" reduced
a/r past due over 90 days by $XXXXXX;" "redesigned credit and a/r
system to more effectively manage customer risk;" "developed and
implemented new policies and procedures that resulted in……." Remember,
recruiters do not want to read about the mundane, everyday activities that
were part of your everyday job; i.e., "ordered credit reports;" "reviewed
credit applications;" "checked credit history…" Such
activities are assumed. Recruiters are looking for your accomplishments and
skills that will aide their new client or current employer. Your "saleable" skills
and experience. Do not list exact dates of employ-ment, rather show the period
by years; i.e., 1988 - 1991, 1991 - Present. Your will be required to fill
in the exact dates on an employment application. However, be prepared to
explain any obvious breaks in periods of employment - those of more than
three months duration.
Education
List schools attended and degrees earned, starting with the highest degree
first. It is not necessary to show the dates of your graduation or years
of attendance. Nor should you list your GPA or extracurricular activities.
Save this type of detail for the employment application.
Professional Affiliations - Achievements
List your membership in such professional organizations as NACM, CRF, FCIB
and/or CFDD. Also list committee on which you have served and any committee
positions such as Chairperson, Vice President, etc.. List all earned designations
such as CCE, CBF, CBA, CCM, CPA, etc. Also, be sure to list any articles
you have written that have been published.
Some general observations and/or suggestions regarding the contents of
your resume: Do not include any include any personal
information - date of birth, marital status, height, weight, hair/eye color
or Social Security Number. Do not include any information that might identify
your ethnic background or religious affiliations. Do not include income information
on previous jobs. Do not list automobiles or other property owned. Do not
include a photograph of yourself. Don't list personal references on
the resume, or attach a list - references will be requested by the
prospective employer at the appropriate time.
Many recruiters suggest limiting the work history on your resume to no
more than ten (10) years. The thinking here is that your work experience
beyond ten years probably isn't relevant to the job for which you are applying.
Especially, if the experience is highly technical. Many of today's workers
are in positions that didn't even exist ten years ago, nor did the companies
for whom they work. If you are over 50 years of age, you won't want to go
back more than ten (10) years anyway.
You may well want to use a slightly different resume format when applying
for different jobs, depending on the job requirements. It is not unusual
for individuals to have 3 or more resume formats and/or text. One consideration
that is a must is transmittal of your resume electronically. All of the companies
who have web sites on the Internet list jobs that are open and provide you
with the ability to submit your resume by e-mail. In fact, they strongly
encourage you to submit your resume electronically. To do this, you should
maintain an ASCII or text only format of your resume. It is a simple matter
in most word processing software to save your resume in these formats. Otherwise,
if you attempt to transmit your "normal" resume format, it will
be received all askew with the headings out of alignment and the text either
run together, or containing strangely placed spaces. One last bit of advice
regarding electronic transmission of your resume in answer to a job opening,
or as a "broadcast" transmission to companies in which you are
interested;
DO NOT electronically send your resume from
your computer at your present place of work. The receiving recruiter or hiring
manager may consider the fact that you are looking for a new job on your
present employer's time and put your resume in the "rejected" pile.
Cover Letters
The primary purpose of a cover letter is to draw the recipients attention
to your resume. Therefore, it should be brief and to the point - see Sample
III. The cover letter should express your interest in a particular position
with a company or one advertised by a recruiter. Do not repeat what is on
your resume. However, you should highlight the skills or experience you have
that the company lists; i.e., must have excellent communication skills; must
have experience with construction liens; must have excellent analytical skills,
etc. The cover letter should be written in the same font style as your resume
and should printed on the same type of paper. Do not use colored or irregular-sized
paper for your cover letter.
Sample Resumes
CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME FORMAT - SAMPLE I
JANE/JOE D. SAMPLE
1234 Internet Dr.
Hightech, CA 99999
408-555-1234
Fax 408-555-5678
Email: jdsample@ISP.com
PROFILE
Senior level Credit Manager with more than ten years experience in distribution
and direct marketing operations. Demonstrated proficiency
in:
- Domestic and international customer risk management
- Development and administration of policies and procedures
- Accounts Receivable and deduction resolution
- Systems analysis and conversions
Computer skills include Lotus, Excel, Word, Windows 95, and PowerPoint.
Knowledge of software package selection and implementation on an
AS/4000 System.
EXPERIENCE
Credit Manager (1993 - Present) USA Widgets, Silicon Valley, CA
- Reduced DSO by 7 days and held bad debt losses to .050% of sales.
- Developed and implemented deduction and charge-back resolution team that
cleared over $2M of over 90 day a/r.
- Key member of software selection and implementation team.
- Revised and implemented credit/collection policy and procedures which
reduced order processing backlog by four days.
- Direct report staff of four for a $70 million global electronic widget
manufacturing and distribution company.
Assistant Credit Manager (1988 - 1993) Chips-R-Us, Nowhere, NV
- Effectively managed a $50 million domestic and international a/r portfolio.
Maintained DSO under corporate goal 45 days.
- Interacted with field sales, tech. Reps and customers to increase revenues
of a strategic region of this microchip manufacturer and distributor. Supervised
two credit analyst positions.
JANE D. SAMPLE - PAGE 2
EDUCATION
MBA - Whatsamatta U, Frost Bite Falls, MN
BS - Frost Bite Falls City College, Frost Bite Falls, MN
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
National Association of Credit Management (NACM):
- CBF designation earned in 1997
- Member of Silicon Valley CFDD and FCIB.
- Continuing education through attendance of NACM credit courses, workshops
and conferences.
FUNCTIONAL RESUME FORMAT - SAMPLE II
ANY GUY/GAL
1919 Startup Street
Hockey Puck, CA 92345
321-456-8910
Fax: 321-457-8999
Email: aguy@ISP.com
CAREER SUMMARY
Credit management professional with successful experience with
international customer base. Emphasis on customer risk manage-ment, reduction
of bad debts, budgeting and cash forecasting. Ex-cellent negotiation and
communication skills.
COMPUTER SKILLS SUMMARY
Advanced level experience with PC, MAC and HP3000 mainframes.
Proficient with Office Suite 97, Lotus, Excel, ASK-ManMan/OMAR,
and SAP software. Also experienced with video-conferencing, internet commerce
and desk-top scanners.
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT - ACHIEVEMENTS
Corporate Credit Manager Goldmine Systems, Inc.
(1989 - Present) Silicon Valley, USA
- Implemented new policies and procedures, lock box network and credit
card payment system which improved cash flow by more than 5 days and reduced
billing costs by $10K per month.
- Reduced DSO by more than 7 days. Maintained Bad Debt losses at less
than .0075% of annual sales.
- Key member of team that redesigned and improved the process from "order
to cash."
- Implemented a/r risk management software that virtually eliminated the
manual review of account credit limits under $10K.
- Collaborated with sales managers to conduct proactive financial analysis
to identify new customers.
- Performed financial analysis on potential suppliers of key electronic
components.
- Support sales management at various trade shows and marketing events.
ANY GUY/GAL - PAGE 2
EDUCATION
MBA Candidate - Washington Univ., Washington, DC
BA - School of Hard Knocks, Washington, DC
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS
National AssociatIon of Credit Mangement (NACM)
- CBF designation earned 1997.
- Completed Mid-Career School 1996
- Member of Silicon Valley CFDD - past V.P. of Education; member of CRF
and FCIB.
COVER LETTER - SAMPLE III
ANY GUY/GAL
1919 Startup Street
Hockey Puck, CA 92345
321-456-8910
Fax: 321-457-8999
Email: aguy@ISP.com
(Current Date)
Dear Hiring Manager
Prospect Technologies, Inc.
12345 Hardrive Way
High Tech, CA 98345
Re: Corporate Credit Manager - Req#01-98-2
Dear Mr. Hiring Manager:
The Corporate Credit Manager position you described in your web page job
posting immediately caught my attention. My proven record of success in credit
and collection management makes me an ideal candidate for this position.
My resume is enclosed for your review and consideration. You will find my
qualifications more than meet your requirements.
I look forward to discussing the position with you in more detail. Please
call at your earliest convenience to schedule a personal meeting. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Any Guy/Gal
Enclosure
Job
Search in the Internet Age, Part I
The
Interview - Selling Yourself, Part III
Job
Search By Workers 50 & Over, Part IV
|
