Rules for Resumes
A resume exists for a very specific reason, and it isn’t to get you the job. Resumes are not tools for job applicants. They are tools for employers. They exist solely to help an employer eliminate prospective job applicants. It is subsequently through interviews that someone gets (or does not get) a job. If I knew that there were only two people in the entire world available and willing to perform my open job, I would, as the employer, waste no time asking to see their resumes. I would engage them both in conversation to see which one I wanted to hire.
From your perspective as a job applicant, therefore, the resume is Willy Wonka’s golden ticket: It is a means of getting you from outside the building into the lobby. It exists only to get you through the screening process. What you then do is up to you. In other words, if your resume gets you through the glass doors and into a conference room, the job is yours to lose from that point.
How, then, should a resume be written? You know that it should be free of mistakes, but simply proofing it isn’t enough. There are a few simple guidelines that I use.
First, a resume must define you, immediately and succinctly. There are those who don’t use summaries in their resume templates, because among other things this makes it difficult to use the same resume for multiple types of jobs if the applicant is casting a wide net. That’s the wrong approach. An employer wants to know not only that you are looking for a job, but that you are looking specifically for the job offered. If you are looking for multiple types of employment, tailor a resume and a corresponding resume summary to each type of job. Sum yourself up in that summary, as in, “Experienced documentation specialist with information design and computer-aided drafting experience seeks challenging employment in information technology or related fields.” It’s not that hard, but it tells the employer exactly who you are supposed to be and why that is relevant to his needs.
Second, a resume must be keyword searchable. Get the list of your job skills and any relevant software experience early in the resume. Make it easy for Human Resources personnel to log what you can do in whatever system they’re using. An employer wants to know that you have the skills or experience necessary to the do job. You must be complete and accurate in reporting what you know. NEVER LIE. I have seen employees lose jobs because they claimed to know a specific software program but could not effectively use it once on the job. If you claim to know software that you actually don’t, you had better be staying up all night over the weekend to learn that software inside and out before your first morning on the job.
Third, a resume must be brief. One page is preferred, with a separate sheet for references that you can provide on request. Avoid going to two pages unless you have such a long work history (say, twenty years in the business, that sort of thing) that it’s impossible. In that case, two pages is okay because it can be copied onto the front and back of a single sheet of paper. Never, ever allow a resume to stretch to three pages, however. Nobody — and I am completely serious — will ever read a three page resume. They are unwieldy and take too much time to absorb. Avoid the temptation to include enough information for three pages that has been shrunk down with tiny margins to fit onto two. Edit out the unnecessary fluff, and rephrase more succinctly those descriptions that are too long.
Fourth, your contact information must be professional. If you’re using an AOL email address or a fanciful hotmail account, create a new gmail address that sounds like something a professional would use. PhilTheWarriorPrince@hotmail.com is an unacceptable email for a resume compared to Phil.Elmore@[almost any domain but hotmail]. People are going to use that email to follow up on your interview, in all likelihood. Present yourself as you want to be seen. If you have your own website, make sure your prospective employer isn’t going to see something he won’t like when he navigates to the domain after seeing it in your e-mail address. Also, make sure to include a phone number that reaches you directly. If your mother is going to pick up the phone when an employer calls, that may not be the image you want to convey. Buy a prepaid phone (they’re cheap) and use it exclusively for fielding resume follow-ups. Make sure to set up the voice mail (and don’t try to be cute when you do that).
Finally, a resume must be clean and pleasing to the eye. Discard any advice you’ve been given about making your resume stand out. Don’t use colored paper. Don’t get fancy with graphics. Don’t send it taped to a box of donuts. Employers don’t want gimmicks and they are turned off by them. Make your resume clean, professional, and easy on the eye (meaning not cluttered or chaotic). Your prospective employer just wants to screen applicants. He or she will respond to the content of your resume accordingly. Employers are not moved by tricks, no matter how clever you think they are, and they will tend to dismiss as a poor risk any applicant who tries to get too creative.
Remember that a resume is always about time. Employers have a limited amount of time to spare. Hiring is usually a nuisance that, rightly or wrongly, hiring managers see as bleeding productive time from the rest of the day. Don’t waste an employer’s time, and therefore annoy that prospective employer, by coloring outside the lines. Keep it clean, keep it professional, and above all, keep it succinctly informative. And when you’re ready to pay someone to do all this for you, think of http://www.philelmore.com for all your resume, writing, editing, and authoring needs.
