The Fearless Resume

Why is it so hard for people to invest in themselves? I always read resumes that really don’t represent the facts about who people really are. A lot of people are always trying to figure out what the other side (hiring managers, recruiters and human resource professionals) are wanting them to write and miss out on an opportunity to communicate about exactly who they are and what they stand for.

Do you let other people write your resumes? I had a client once that had his sister write his resume and when he got to the interview he bombed it because he didn’t even review it with his sister and wasn’t prepared.

Ok, please ask yourself if you think you are worth it. Take the time to write a strong resume. I know people that spend hours and days on writing their cover letters but can’t spend more than 2 hours on writing their resume. I think I know why this is an issue.

We don’t value ourselves and we really don’t know what to say about ourselves. We also listen to everyone but the experts or ourselves and get side tracked by other people’s advice. Trust yourself.

We are also afraid to admit, yes I know but it’s true. We are afraid to admit that we don’t know how to write a resume that describes our accomplishments. We take ourselves for granted.

Let’s get back to basics. Think about the facts of each of your jobs. Think about exactly what functions you performed. Just do a data dump on each position for each job. That will be your first draft.

If you can stick to the facts and document your history then we can figure out where you want to go next. If we can’t figure out where you have been then we really won’t be able to get you to where you want to go.  Don’t try to please others with your resume, please yourself and document your expertise and work history.

MYTH: Hiring managers don’t want to or won’t read a 2-3 page resume.

FACT: Hiring managers don’t read more than 2-5 resumes per position and yes they will read 2-3 page resumes.

MYTH:  My past experience from 10-20 years ago doesn’t matter.

FACT: Everything matters when it comes to writing your resume and telling YOUR story. Every position that you have had from your past is important because you have learned new skills along the way that are transferrable and important to your future job.

MYTH: Nobody cares about what I did in my last job or previous jobs.

FACT: Yes we do and so should you.

MYTH: Why should they hire me when there are people that are more skilled and qualified in this market?

FACT: If you feel that way then you probably won’t get hired.

MYTH: I don’t have a college education so I know I won’t get hired.

FACT: There are many hiring managers that don’t have college educations that will hire you. Also, we are looking for expertise and I am sure you have what it takes to get the job.

MYTH: Everybody hiring has had a perfect career track record.

FACT: No they haven’t, they have made mistakes, failed, succeeded, gotten fired, resigned without giving two weeks notice, etc. They are human too.

How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less

  I wanted to send this to everyone. I found this on Brad Remillard’s website. A Client referred me to this website. Everything he says is true.www.impacthiringsolutions.com

How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less

The 10 or 20 seconds it takes to read a resume seems to always generate a lot of controversy. Candidates comment on how disrespectful it is, how one can’t possibly read a resume in that time and some get angry at recruiters when we talk about this. I hope this article will help everyone understand how we do this. I realize that some still may not like it and will still be angry, but at least you can understand how it works.

First, let me say I’ve been a recruiter for 30 years.  I’m sure I have reviewed over 500,000 resumes. I can’t prove this but I’m reasonably confident that this is the case, as this is only an average of about 46 a day. I know many days I have reviewed hundreds of resumes and most in less than 20 seconds. I would say the average is probably around 5 to 7 seconds.

So for the record when you hear or read about, “reading a resume in 20 seconds,” that isn’t completely true. It is more than likely, “reviewed the resume in 20 seconds.”

Here is my process for getting through 100’s of resumes in a short period of time. Others may have different ways and I welcome your comments.

I set up a hierarchy of certain “must haves” or you’re out, so at first I’m really just box checking. Generally, 80% of the time these are my knock out blows. There are exceptions to each of these, but I’m dealing with the 80/20 rule. These are not cumulative times.  This is box checking, if I see any one of these as I scan your resume you will be excluded.

1. Location. If the client is in Los Angeles, CA and you aren’t – goodbye. Few if any clients want to relocate anyone in this economy, and I believe most shouldn’t have to. Especially in a huge metropolitan area like Los Angeles. If they do have to consider relocation the position has to require some very unique experience that few jobs do. I can do this in about 1 second.

2. Industry. If my client is in banking and your background is primarily manufacturing – goodbye.  These two often are so different that the client isn’t open to considering such different industries. This works both ways, if you have a manufacturing background I’m not going to consider someone with banking. 2-3  seconds to determine this.

3. Function. If I’m doing a sales search and your background isn’t sales – goodbye. Generally companies are paying recruiters to find them a perfect fit. We never do find a perfect fit, but we have to be very close. They don’t need a recruiter to find them someone in a completely different function. 2 seconds to figure this one out.

4. Level. If I’m doing a VP level search and your title is “manager” and you have never been a VP – goodbye. There are exceptions to this, but again it is the 80/20 rule. Again, clients pay me to find them the perfect fit. It is generally way too big of a jump from manager level to VP level, all other things being equal. It works the other way too. If  I’m looking for a manager and you are a VP – goodbye. I know you are qualified to do a manager level role, but it is clear you have grown past. Most clients and recruiters aren’t willing to take the chance that when a VP level position comes along that you won’t be gone. Less than 5 seconds to figure out.

5. Recent Experience. There is some overlap on this one. If I’m searching for someone with international sales experience in the aerospace industry and the last time you held an international sales position in this industry was 20 years ago and since then you have been in retail – goodbye.  I can find people with more relevant experience and that is what my client expects me to do. 5 seconds to do this.

6. Education Like it or not, I will only work with people that have a college education and most of the time a master’s degree. This is mainly because, as I indicated before, I need to find the very best for my clients. I realize an education doesn’t mean by itself that the candidate is the best, but it is one qualifier of many. Also all of my clients require at least a BA.

7. Turnover. If you have had 6 jobs in the last 4 years, or have a track record of high turnover – goodbye. I realize there are good reasons for turnover and that falls into the 20% of the 80/20 rule. I can’t define high turnover, but I know it when I see it. 3 – 5 seconds.

8. Functional resume. I don’t read them. It is obvious when one has a functional resume they are trying to hide something and I’m rarely going to take the time to attempt to figure it out. 1 second.

9. Obvious things such as, spelling errors, poor format, errors in grammar, too long, verbose and rambling. If after reading it I still can’t figure out what you do, goodbye. 5 – 10 seconds

After all this, 80 – 100% have been eliminated. If there are any left, then I will take the time to actually read them in detail.

If this was helpful to you, please pass it along to help others in  your network. Consider adding it to your status on LinkedIn, posting on Twitter, or emailing the link to your network. Please help others if this helped you.

I welcome your thought and comments.

Brad Remillard

 Check out Brad’s website.www.impacthiringsolutions.com

The Fearless Resume… It’s a process…

“You have to figure out where you have been and what you have done, in order to know where you are going.”

 

 

 

The statement above pretty much captures my philosophy on resume writing. I have been writing and editing resumes for 12 years. I never get sick of it because I am always telling a new story about an interesting person. I learn a lot too!

 

 

 

 The goal of the resume is to get you interviews, so you can get that much closer to the offer.

 People ask me how my clients are getting jobs everyday and every week. I tell them it all starts with the resume. I help my clients tell their professional story and communicate a factual and multidimensional view of who they are. 

 I am writing resumes based on my client’s history not their mothers, fathers, neighbors, etc. It is their story on paper. 

I believe that you need to be in an exploratory mode when you are writing your resume. The first step is writing the outline which is basically documenting all of your jobs and titles, etc. Second, do the Brain or Data Dump or some clients call it a Cranial Plunk! Transport yourself back to each job in your mind and write everything you did in that job. Third, go back and then ask yourself two questions. How did I do it (document your strategy) and how did I help my company or client? Your resume should be at least a couple of pages during this process. Then you can go back and edit the entire document so you can produce a final document.

 The resume is your first interview advantage! Recruiters, Hiring Managers and Human Resource Professionals believe in the concept “Neat on Paper, Neat in Person.” It is shocking to me that job seekers don’t spend more time on their resume.

 Below is a list of what you don’t want to do when writing a resume.

            Don’t try to figure out what the other side is thinking, meaning the hiring managers or recruiters. Just write the facts about your professional story. Remember, like attracts like and if they don’t like what you are writing then they won’t hire you and that’s what you want. You want to attract people that value you and your history.

            Don’t write a one page resume when you have 10+ years. A two to three page resume is acceptable. People don’t realize that hiring managers only read five resumes per position. The recruiters do all the screening.

            Don’t let anyone else write your resume. They can edit it for you all day long but only you should be writing your resume.

            Don’t forget to spell check the document!

            Don’t forget to add your awards, professional associations and volunteerism, etc.

            I could go on and on but the most important thing to remember when writing a resume is to represent your story and just write the facts. That’s all you have is your story and its good enough. Don’t try to figure out what the Hiring Manager wants because you will never know. Good luck.

 

3 Jobs – 1 Resume! You only need 1 resume…

Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, confused and a little bit schizophrenic regarding your resume? Most of my clients feel this way.

Well you might not want to be writing and submitting 5-7 different resumes with your name on it to multiple jobs. Most people think that they have to write many different versions of their resumes so they can tailor it to match each job they are applying for.  Well guess what? You don’t have to do that anymore. STOP the madness!

All you have to do is write 1 resume that communicates your FACTUAL story (not your brother’s, cousins, or sisters career story, just yours)

and then when you want to submit to 3 different jobs within your profession (which is ok) then just change the objective, the summary of qualifications to reflect the core competencies that you have for each of the different positions and re-sequence your bullets under your former jobs. For example, if you want to highlight certain core competencies and functions you performed on the job, don’t delete the ones that YOU THINK you don’t need (let the hiring manager decide for themselves, don’t edit all the incredible skills you have out of the resume) just re-sequence them to highlight each one depending on what type of job you are applying for. Good luck.